3^^^ 


Itheological  seminary,! 

i  Princeton,  N.  J.  '  _     ^ 


f 


t    BR  842  .L67  1842   c.l 

I  Lorimer,  John  Gordon,  1804- 

1   1868. 

An  historical  sketch  of  the 
Protestant  Church  of  France 


AN 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


PROTESTANT  CHURCH  OF  FRANCE, 

FROM  ITS  ORIGIN  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIMES. 
WITH 

PARALLEL  NOTICES 

OF  THE 

(OHUJEOHOF  0(0©lE.ASr]D) 

DURING    THE    SAME    PERIOD. 


BY  THE 

/ 


Rev.   JOHN  G.  LORIMER, 

Minis^-^r  of  St.  David's  Parish,  Glassow. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 

PAUL   T.    JONES,   PUBLISHING   AGENT. 

1842. 


Printed  by 

WILLIAM  ».  MARTIEN. 


CONTENTS. 


PREFACE.  -  -  -  -  -  -  -        15 

CHAPTER  I. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  CHURCH  OF  FRANCE  FROM  ITS  ORIGIN 
IN  1559  TO  1571. 

Importance  of  the  subject — Chief  Authorities— Early  Reformation 
indebted  to  Nobles — Translation  of  the  Scriptures— Great  Advan- 
tage of  the  Metrical  Psalms — Early  Success — Severe  Sufferings  of 
the  Martyrs — Confession  of  Faith  in  Forty  Articles — Wise  Disci- 
pline of  the  Church  in  regard  to  Pastors,  Teachers,  Church  Mem- 
bers, the  Poor,  &c. — Rapid  Progress  of  the^^Church — Illustrated  by 
Modern  Missions  in  the  South  Seas.  -  -  -      17 

CHAPTER  II. 

FROM  1572  TO  1598. 

Persecution — Fearful  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew — Disastrous  Ef- 
fects of  the  Persecution — Efforts  after  an  increased  number  of  Pas- 
tors, and  a  well  educated  Ministry — Recommendations  regarding 
Catechising,  a  new  Translation  of  the  Scriptures,  Sanctification  of 
the  Sabbath,  the  Hallowing  of  God's  Name — Testimony  of  the 
Church  against  various  Errors,  and  the  Proposal  to  Unite  the  Ro- 
mish and  Reformed  Churches— Unity  of  Sentiment  and  Affection 
among  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation— Christian  Spirit  of  the 
Church  of  France — Enfeebled  and  Declining  State  of  many  of  her 
Congregations — Apostasy  of  Henry  IV.  -  -  -      42 

PROTESTANTISM  OF  THE  PROVINCES  OF  BEARN  AND  NAVARRE. 

Early  Refuge  for  the  Suffering  Protestants— Rapid  Progress  of  the 
Truth— Severe  Struggles  with  the  Popish  Party— Exertions  of 
Montgomery,  a  Scotchman — Defence  of  the  Protestants  taking  up 


8  CONTENTS. 

Arms — Christian  Character  of  the  Church  of  Beam  and  Navarre — 
Education;  Sabbath  Observance ;  Appointment  of  Ministers;  Mis- 
sionary Spirit;  Sympathy  with  the  Suffering.  -  -      57 


CONTEMPORANEOUS   HISTORY   OF   THE   CHURCH   OF   SCOTLAND    FROM 

1560  TO  1592. 

Early  Connection  between  Scotland  and  the  Continent  of  Europe — 
Number  of  Scotchmen  in  France — The  low  Moral  and  Religious 
State  of  Scotland  prior  to  the  Reformation — The  First  Martyrs — 
Humble  Beginnings  and  amazing  Progress  of  the  Reformed  Church 
— Resemblance  between  the  Church  of  Scotland  and  the  Church 
of  France  in  Doctrine  and  Discipline — High  Qualifications  required 
for  the  Ministry — Manifold  Labours  of  the  Pastor — Success  against 
Popery — Spirit  of  Union  with  Christian  Churches,  and  Sympathy 
■with  the  x\fflicted — Explanation  and  Vindication  of  the  High  Dis- 
cipline of  the  Church — Confirmation  of  preceding  Statements 
from  recently  discovered  Records  of  the  General  Session  of  Glas- 
gow  ..-..-..      63 


CHAPTER  HI. 

FROM  1598  TO  1660. 

The  Establishment  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes— The  Religious  Wars 
which  preceded  it— The  Advantages  of  the  Edict — Early  Encroach- 
ments and  Cruelties  under  Louis  XHI.— The  Self-Defensive  Efforts 
of  the  Protestants— Noble  Character  of  Mornay  Du  Plessis— The 
Siege  of  Rochelle— Sympathy  of  the  British  Nation  with  the  French 
Sufferers— Comparative  Quiet — The  generous  Efforts  of  Oliver 
Cromwell  in  behalf  of  the  Persecuted  Piedmontese — Revival  of  Po- 
pery under  Louis  XHI.— Tlie  Number  of  the  Protestants — Their 
Loyalty — The  Learning  of  the  Ministers— Their  Piety.        -       77 


CONTEMPORANEOUS    HISTORY  OF   THE   CHURCH    OF   SCOTLAND  FROM 

1592  TO  1660. 

Correspondence  in  the  Histories  of  the  Church  of  France  and  the 
Church  of  Scotland— The  Encroachments  of  James  VI.  on  the  Con- 
stitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  his  Instruments— Noble 
Firmness  of  Ihe  Presbyterian  Ministers- Christian  Character  of 
the  Church  during  the  reign  of  James  VI. — Labours  in  Planting 
Churches — Strict  Discipline  on  Ministers  and  People — Exertions 
against  Popery,  and  Success — Large  Number  of  Communicants 
in  Parishes;  Cases  of  Ednam,  Newbattle,  Shetland— The  Acces- 
sion of  Charles  I.  and  Rule  of  Archbishop  Laud— The  Service- 
Book  attempted  to  be  thrust  on  the  Church— The  Reaction— The 
Universal  and  Disinterested  Struggle  of  the  People  of  Scotland— 


CONTENTS. 


Civil  Wars  of  England— Execution  of  Charles  I.,  and  Vindication 
of  the  Presbyterians  from  any  share  in  it— Spiritual  Character  of 
the  Church  during  her  Wafare  with  the  King— Devout  Spirit  of 
the  Presbyterian  Army— Vindicated  from  the  Charge  of  Cruelty— - 
Labours  of  the  Church  against  Popery,  &c.— In  behalf  of  Church 
Extension— Presbyterial  Visitations— Family  Worship— Fast  Day 
Appointments— Special  Revivals  of  Religion— Explanation  of  the 
Sins  and  Crimes  met  with  in  the  Records  of  the  Church— Talents 
and  Attainments  of  the  leading  Ministers.     -  -  -       94 


PARALLELS   BETWEEN  THE   CHURCHES  OF  FRANCE    AND  SCOTLAND 
WHILE  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES  WAS  IN  FORCE. 

Sect.      I.— The  Churches  of  France  and  Scotland  encourage 

the  Preparation  and  Publication  of  Good  Books.  124 

Sect.     II.— Show  love  for  the  Word  of  God.  -  -  131 

Sect.  III. — Promote  Education  and  Learning.  -  -  140 

Sect.    IV. — Cherish  Sympathy  and  Benevolence.  -  -  157 

Sect.     V. — Advocate  Christian  Union.  -  -  -  I'^O 

Sect.  VI.— Protest   against   the  Corruptions  of  the  Church  of 

Rome.      -  -  -  -  -  -  180 

Sect.  VIL— Sound  in  Doctrine,  and  the  Enemies  of  Error.       -  190 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FROM  1660  TO  1685. 

Early  and  Manifold  infractions  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  preparatory  to 
its  Abrogation — Striking  Testimony  of  Rev.  Mr.  Cotton,  an  En- 
glishman,  to  the  Persecution  in  France,  of  which  he  was  an  eye- 
witness— Testimony  of  Wodrow  the  Historian — Petition  presented 
in  behalf  of  the  French  Protestants,  by  Marischal  Shomberg— Peti- 
tion of  Protestants  themselves  to  the  King — Actual  Revocation 
OF  the  Edict  of  Nantes — Fearful  Atrocities — Seven  Different 
Methods  of  Persecution— Individual  Cases  of  Suffering — Testi- 
mony of  Bishop  Burnet,  an  eye-witness,  to  the  misery  of  France, 
and  the  Cruelties  inflicted  on  the  Protestants— Aggravations  in  the 
Sin  of  Persecution— The  Christian  Spirit  of  the  Sufferers,  Le 
Febvre — Marolles— Pierre  Mauru— A  humble  Shepherd— Serre — 
The  Romish  Falsehood  that  there  was  no  Persecution,  and  that 
the  Protestants  Conformed  of  their  own  accord — Destruction  of 
their  Religious  books — Extension  of  the  Persecution  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  France — Testimony  afforded  by  Jurieu's  Letters — 
Proscribed  Meetings  of  the  Protestants  for  Divine  Worship— Re- 
markable Death  of  Rey,  a  youthful  Martyr — Death  of  aged  Mar- 
tyrs—Wretchedness of  a  Backslider— Banishment  of  the  Faithful 
to  America,  and  accompanying  Sufferings— Jurieu's  Testimony  to 
to  the  Failure  of  the  Persecution  to  make  any  real  Converts  to  the 
Church  of  Rome — Moral  Causes  in  the  Providence  of  God  for  the 
protracted  Persecution  of  the  French  Protestants.      -  -     205 

*1 


10  CONTENTS. 


KNOWLFDCE  DISSOCIATED  FROM  TRUE  RELIGION  UTTERLY  UNABLE 
TO  PREVENT  OR  NEUTRALIZE  THE  SPIRIT  OF  PERSECUTION,  EX- 
EMPLIFIED IN  THE  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 

Origin'of  Persecution — Literature  and  Learning  of  France — The  Pos- 
sessors did  nothing  to  Prevent  the  Persecution,  though  the  sufferers 
were  many,  and  Friends  of  Knowledge — Attainments  of  the  Re- 
formed in  Learning — Unworthy  adulation  of  the  Persecutor  by  the 
Literati — Insufficiency  of  Literature  to  make  men  happy  in  them- 
selves, or  the  Sources  of  Good  to  others — Value  of  Religious  Prin- 
ciple. 270 

CONTEMPORANEOUS   HISTORY  OF   THE  CHURCH   OF   SCOTLAND    FROM 

1660  TO  1688. 

Cromwell's  Rule  in  Scotland — His  Encouragement  of  Learning  and 
Protestantism — The  Moral  and  Proximate  causes  of  the  Coming 
Persecution — The  General  Joy  at  the  Restoration  of  Charles  XL — 
The  Character  of  his  Leading  Agents  in  Scotland — The  Flagrant 
Violation  of  the  Constitution  and  Privileges  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land— The  Disinterested  Sacrifices  of  the  Presbyterian  Ministers, 
four  hundred  of  whom  were  ejected  from  their  Charges — The  Mise- 
rable Character  of  their  Episcopal  Successors — The  Extent  and 
Severity  of  the  Persecution — Various  Testimonies  to  it — The  Pres- 
byterians Vindicated  from  the  Charge  of  being  Rebels — The  Moral 
and  Religious  Character  of  the  Covenanters  as  a  whole — The  Suf- 
ferings of  the  Episcopalians  in  England,  under  Cromwell,  not  to  be 
compared  with  those  of  the  Presbyterians  in  Scotland  and  in  Eng- 
land, under  Charles  and  James — Character  of  the  Church  during 
the  Persecuting  Times,  as  appears  from  Ecclesiastical  Records — 
Character  of  Charles  IL — James  IL  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  labours 
to  Establish  Popery — Services  of  the  Church  of  England  against 
Popery,  Disinterested  Conduct  of  the  Presbyterians,  both  in  Scot- 
land and  in  England — Failure  of  the  Efforts  of  the  King — Revolution 
of  1G88;  Connection  between  the  Persecutors  in  Britain  and  France, 
and  Designs  of  Popery — The  French  Protestants  aided  the  British 
Revolution — The  Revolution  itself  the  Effect  of  the  Interposition 
of  Providence.  ......     277 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  FRANCE  AND  SCOTLAND  VINDICATED  FROM  THE 
CHARGE  OF  REBELLIOxN THE  OBJECTIONS  OF  DR.  PUSEY  CON- 
SIDERED. 

Question  of  the  Lawfulness  of  Resistance  to  Civil  Power — Argu- 
ments for  Passive  Obedience  and  Non-Resistance;  Statements  of 
Dr.  Puscy — The  Actual  Conduct  of  the  Presbyterians  in  France 
and  Scotland — The  Views  of  Scripture — The  Example  of  the  Pri- 
mitive Church— Turned  against  Dr.  Puscy  and  his  Friends — 'I  he 
Supposed  Good  of  Uniform  and  Universal  Non-Rcsistance,  and  the 
Supposed  evil  of  Resistance  in  any  Case  Disproved  by  Acts — Con- 


CONTENTS. 


11 


demnation  of  the  Severe  and  Unwarrantable  Tone  in  which  Dr. 
Pusey  speaks  of  the  Suffering  Saints  of  God — Testimonies  to  the 
Character  of  the  French  Protestant  Church  by  Distinguished  Wri- 
ters: Edwards,  Burnet,  Croly,  Faber — Church  of  England  Divines 
Approve  of  Resistance  in  Extreme  Cases — Conduct  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford  in  the  Matter— Extract  from  Dr.  M'Crie  on  the  Sub- 
ject,  in  Answer  to  Fuller — Illustration  from  Switzerland — Senti- 
ments of  Calvin— Religious  Spirit  of  the  French  Protestants  ia 
taking  up  Arms— Caution  with  which  the  whole  Subject  should  be 
Regarded 300 

CHAPTER  V. 

FROM  1685  TO  1715. 

The  Dread  Consequences  of  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes — 
Emigration  from  France — Testimony  of  Bishop  Burnet  to  this 
point — Correspondence  of  a  Swiss  Magistrate  with  one  of  the  Cap- 
tives detained  in  France — Multitude  of  emigrants  to  different  Pro- 
testant  Countries — France  suffered  Commercially — Impulse  given 
to  the  Manufactures  of  Britain  by  French  Refugees — Dispersion  of 
French  Ministers — Residence  of  several  in  Edinburgh — De  Sou- 
ligne's  Statement  of  the  Commercial  Loss  to  France  by  Popery — 
Generosity  of  British  Christians  to  Suffering  Refugees — Collec- 
tions,  &,c. — Kindness  to  the  German  Palatinates  at  the  same  period 
— Condition  of  the  Protestants  who  remained  in  France — Faithful 
Christian  Counsels  Addressed  to  them  by  their  Exiled  Ministers — 
Persecution  still  went  forward — The  Protestant  or  Camisard  Strug- 
gle— Pretensions  to  Prophetic  Gifts ;  the  Fruit  of  Oppression — Per- 
secution of  the  Saints  the  means  of  the  Conversion  of  a  Roman 
Catholic  Priest— The  Miserable  Death  of  Louis  XIV.,  an  Illustra- 
tion of  Moral  Government — Forgiving  Spirit  of  the  Protestants — 
Moral  Government  in  Case  of  Charles  IX.,  and  Insufficiency  of 
Science  to  Prevent  Persecution  in  Case  of  Gregory  XIII.  {Note.)  313 

CONTEMPORANEOUS   HISTORY    OF   THE   CHURCH  OF   SCOTLAND  FROM 
1688  TO    1715. 

Diversity  of  God's  Treatment  of  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation — 
Critical  Circumstances  of  the  Protestants  of  Europe,  immediatsiy 
before  the  British  Revolution  of  1688— One  of  the  First  Effects  of 
the  Revolution  was  to  Check  the  Persecution  of  the  Protestants  in 
Piedmont — The  Moral  and  Religious  State  of  Scotland  at  the  Revo- 
lution — Peculiar  Difficulties  connected  with  the  Revolution  in  Scot- 
land— Zeal  and  Sacrifices  of  the  Church  in  carrying  it  through — 
Generous  Conduct  of  the  Presbyterians  towards  the  Episcopalians — 
Comprehension  of  the  Episcopal  Incumbents  in  the  Presbyterian 
Establishment,  a  fatal  Error — External  Circumstances  of  Britain 
immediately  after  the  Revolution— Zealous  Efforts  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland  in  Church  Extension,  especially  in  the  Highlands  and 
Islands — In  the  Cause  of  Education — Various  other  proofs  of  a 
Christian  Spirit — Universities— Ministers  sent  to  the  Colony  of 


1 2  CONTENTS. 

Daricn— Favourable  Practical  Result  of  the  Operation  of  Christian 
Means ;  Dr.  Benyon's  Testimony — De  Foe's— Favourable  Change 
in  the  Western  Highlands— Also  North  Highlands— General  Tes- 
timony of  Professor  Wodrovv,  Sir  H.  MoncriefF,  and  Pierce — Union 
between  the  two  Kingdoms,  in  a  chief  degree  carried  through  by 
the  Church — Adverse  Influences  with  which  the  Church  had  to 
Contend,  particularly  Queen  Anne's  Act  Restoring  Lay  Patronage 
in  1711.  ......  339 

CHAPTER  VI. 

FROM  1715  TO  1755. 

Ebbs  and  Flows  of  Persecution — Persecuting  Declaration  of  1724 — 
"  French  Convert" — Christian  Character  and  Loyalty  of  the  Pro- 
testants— Character  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  France  at  the  same 
time ;  Jesuists  and  Jansenists — Notice  of  Jansenism — Amount  of 
Protestant  Population  at  this  time — Continued  Persecution;  Mar- 
tyrdom of  an  Aged  Minister — Varied  Forms  of  Persecution — Last 
Days  of  Several  Martyrs — Aggravating  Circumstances  in  the  Per- 
secution— Notice  of  the  Persecution  in  other  Popish  Countries  at 
the  same  period,  Poland,  Austria — The  Saltzburghers  find  a  Refuge 
in  Prussia — Character  and  Conduct  of — The  Tyrolese  of  the  same 
Country  Persecuted  at  the  present  day  by  Austria,  and  find  a  Refuge 
also  in  Prussia — The  Present  Erastian  Persecution  in  Prussia — 
Importance  of  maintaining  the  Headship  of  Christ.  -  367 

CONTEMPORANEOUS   HISTORY  OF   THE    CHURCH   OF   SCOTLAND  FROM 
1715   TO   1755. 

Improved  Protestant  security  of  Britain,  by  the  Accession  of  the 
Hanoverian  Family — Remarkable  Providence  of  God  in  connection 
with  the  present  Royal  Family  and  Protestantism  (Note) — Church 
of  Scotland  and  Presbyterians  warm  friends  of  the  Protestant  Suc- 
cession— Christian  Character  and  Liberality  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land— Contributions  for  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  the  United 
States — For  the  Churches  of  Lithuania — Labours  of  the  Church  in 
the  Cause  of  Church  and  School  Extension — Pleasing  Symptoms 
of  Revival  in  particular  parishes — General  Decline  of  Sound  Doc- 
trine and  True  Religion  in  the  Church;  Case  of  Simson,  &,c. — 

•  Indications  of  Infidelity  in  Scotland — Similar  DecUne  in  the  other 
Churches  of  the  Reformation — Eff'orts  of  Faithful  Men  in  England 
and  Germany  to  Arrest  the  Degeneracy  (Note) — Decline  in  the 
Church  of  England — Among  the  English  Dissenters — In  Ireland — 
In  Geneva — In  the  ProtcstantChurch  of  Germany — The  Proximate 
Causes  of  the  General  Decline — Progress  of  the  Degeneracy  in 
Scotland;  the  Secession — Attachment  of  the  People  to  Evangelical 
Preaching— God's  Mercy  to  the  Clmrch  of  Scotland  in  the  Revi- 
vals of  1743— Popish  Rebellion  of  1745— The  State  blameworthy 
in  not  providing  the  Moral  Means  for  counteracting  Popery — At- 
tachment of  the  Church  of  Scotland  to  the  Protestant  Royal  Fami- 
ly—Statement of  Dr.  Doddridge  as  to  the  Causes  and  Cure  of  Po- 
pery in  the  Highlands  and  Islands.  -  .  -         389 


CONTENTS.  13 

CHAPTER  VII. 

FROM  1755  TO  1792. 

Relaxation  of  the  Persecution  for  a  Season—  Its  Revival  in  connection 
with  the  Prohibition  of  Protestant  Marriages— The  Celebrated  Case 
of  M.  Roux— Troussel's  Eloquent  Pleading— Dawn  of  Toleration 
and  its  causes — Its  connection  with  wide-spread  Infidelity — The 
French  Revolution— Number  of  the  Protestants  at  this  period— 
Serious  decline  in  Religious  Character,  and  causes  of  this— Imper- 
feet  Education  of  the  Pastors— Fine  Character  of  Paul  Rabaut,  the 
most  eminent  of  the  number — Injurious  effect  of  Infidelity  on  Pro- 
testantism and  Freedom— Decline  of  Sound  Doctrine  and  Religious 
Character  among  the  French  Protestants  in  Holland— Some  Pro- 
testant Pastors  as  well  as  Roman  Catholic  Priests  avow  Infidelity 
during  the  French  Revolution — The  Revolutionists  Persecute  the 
faithful  Protestants.  ...  -  -         420 

CONTEMPORANEOUS   HISTORY  OF   THE   CHURCH   OF   SCOTLAND    FROM 

1755  TO  1792. 

Progress  of  the  Religious  Decline — New  Secession  from  the  Church 
owing  to  the  rigorous  exercise  of  Patronage — Arrest  of  the  Church's 
efforts  for  increased  Schools  and  Places  of  Worship — Increase  of 
Popery— The  Seven  Years'  War  (Note) — Faithful  minority  still  in 
the  Church— Their  labours  through  "  The  Society  for  Propagating 
Christian  Knowledge" — Character  and  Policy  of  the  Majority  in 
the  General  Assembly — Their  alleged  Connection  with  Literature 
(^Note) — Description  of  the  cold  Christianity,  Irreligion,  and  un- 
sound Doctrine  of  Britain  generally — Testimony  of  Toplady  in 
regard  to  the  Church  of  England — Bishop  Lavington — Biographer 
of  Hervey — In  regard  to  the  English  Dissenters,  testimonies  of 
Watts,  Doddridge,  Orton,  Ryland,  &c. — Discreditable  conduct  of 
Socinians  (Note) — Infidelity  in  Britain,  threatening  aspects — Over- 
ruled for  the  Revival  of  Evangelical  Religion— Similar  Revival  in 
the  Protestant  Churches  of  Germany  from  similar  causes — Testi- 
mony of  Professor  Tholuck  to  this  purpose.  -  -        436 


CHAPTER  Vni. 

FROM  1792  TO  1840. 

Infidelity  a  Persecutor— Persecuting  Sentiments  and  Conduct  of  the 
French  Revolutionists— Moral  Retribution  of  Providence  on  the 
Infidel  Leaders;  the  Popish  persecution  of  the  Protestant  Church 
the  true  cause  of  the  French  Revolution — Return  of  France  to  the 
Profession  of  Christianity  and  Religious  Toleration— Improved 
Condition  of  the  Protestant  Church  under  Napoleon — Code  of  Pub- 
lie  Rules  for  her  Government— No  Improvement  in  her  Spiritual 
Character— Further    External   Advantages— Depressed    Spiritual 


14  CONTENTS. 

Condition  continued;  its  Causes — Revival  by  the  Instrumentality 
of  the  Circulation  of  the  Scriptures,  and  Visits  by  British  Chris- 
tians— Labours  of  Robert  Haldane,  Esq. — Remarkable  Conversion 
of  a  French  Protestant  Pastor — Faithful  Protestant  Remnant  in 
Secluded  Spots — Rev.  Mr.  Davies'  Visit  to  one  of  them — Large 
share  of  remaining  Neology — Severe  Persecution  of  the  Protestants 
,  on  the  Restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  in  1816 — Difference  between 
it  and  the  former  Persecutions — Present  and  growing  numbers  of 
the  Protestant  Church — General  Condition  of  the  Pastors — Reli- 
gious Character  still  low — Progress  toward  Improvement — Evan- 
gelical tone  of  the  Religious  Press — Missionary  Spirit — Special 
Revivals — Incipient  Persecution — Letter  of  M.  Marzials.  456 

CONTEMPORANEOUS   HISTORY  OF   THE    CHURCH   OF   SCOTLAND   FROM 

1792  TO  1840. 

Further  Testimonies  to  the  General  Religious  Declension  of  last  Cen- 
tury— The  low  State  of  Religion  affected  Literature — And  the 
Spirit  of  Public  Freedom — Testimony  of  Dr.  Jamieson  to  prevail- 
ing Irreligion — Of  Professor  Bruce — Revival  in  Great  Britain — 
Missionary  Spirit — Warm  Missionary  Spirit  of  Baxter —  (Note) — 
Causes  of  the  Spread  of  Evangelical  Religion  in  Scotland — Diffu- 
sion of  Scripture;  Religious  Periodicals — Discussions  of  Church 
Courts;  Eminent  Men  raised  up;  Special  Revivals  of  Religion — 
The  Five  Missionary  Schemes  of  the  Church — Immense  Sale  of 
Works  of  Practical  Theology  (Note) — Ascendency  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Party  in  the  General  Assembly — Happy  Effects  of  the 
Change — Controversies  in  which  the  Church  has  been,  and  is  en- 
gaged ;  the  Voluntary  Question — Controversy  regarding  the  Head- 
ship of  Christ — Probable  Design  of  Providence  in  connection  with 
the  Present  Agitations  of  the  Church — Prospects  of  the  Church ; 
in  all  circumstances  will  be  found  the  Friend  of  Knowledge — Free- 
dom— National  Happiness — Importance  of  using  the  Press  on  the 
side  of  the  Church  and  True  Religion.         -  -  -       491 


PREFACE. 


Though  the  claims  of  more  pressing-  avocations  forbid  the 
opportunity,  even  had  I  the  ability,  to  make  profound  researches 
or  original  remarks,  yet  the  sketches  now  presented  possess  the 
advantage  of  being,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  only  work  on  the  sub- 
ject. Various  books  have  been  written,  particularly  of  late, 
bearing  more  or  less  on  the  Reformed  Church  of  France,  parti- 
cularly Mr.  D.  Scott's  important  work,  still  in  progress,  "  On 
the  Suppression  of  the  Reformation  in  France ;"  but  they  either 
comprehend  only  a  limited  portion  of  the  history,  or  they  pre- 
sent it  in  its  merely  external  and  secular  aspects.  It  is  the  aim 
of  the  following  pages  to  give  a  view  of  the  entire  history  of 
the  Protestant  Church  of  France  through  three  centuries,  and 
that  chiefly  in  its  spiritual  character  as  a  Church  of  Christ. 
The  absence  of  the  latter  is,  I  apprehend,  a  great  defect  in  most 
works  on  ecclesiastical  history.  Along  with  these,  I  have  com- 
bined interesting  facts  in  the  contemporaneous  history  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  some  of  them  unknown  to  any,  save  to 
those  who  have  had  access  to  the  same  documents.  The  reader, 
therefore,  will  know  what  he  has  to  expect — not  an  elaborate 
historical  work — but  brief  sketches,  designed  to  draw  forth  the 
spiritual  character  of  Churches  towards  which  God  has  exer- 
cised not  a  few  remarkable  dispensations.  The  comparison  of 
the  history  of  the  two  Churches  will  serve  to  show  the  diver- 
sity of  God's  Providential  dealings  with  his  own  people. 

It  appears  from  the  "  Life  of  Dr.  M'Crie,"  that  that  eminent 
man,  twenty -seven  years  ago,  strongly  recommended  his  not 
less  eminent  friend.  Dr.  Andrew  Thomson,  to  write  the  History 
of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France — among  other  reasons,  be- 
cause there  was  no  readable  book  on  the  subject,  and  because 
of  the  remarkable  correspondence,  in  many  points,  between  the 
constitution  and  history  of  the  Church  of  France  and  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  I  have  not  the  presumption  to  imagine,  that  the 
following  pages  have  supplied  what  such  an  historical  writer  as 
Dr.  M'Crie  pronounced  to  be  wanting.  But  the  Public  have 
thus  the  best,  and  that  an  unlooked-for  testimony,  to  the  fact, 
that  there  is  a  desideratum  in  Church  History  to  be  met;  and 
however  defective  the  present  Sketch  may  be  in  itself,  and  even 


16  PREFACE. 

in  the  views  and  wishes  of  the  writer,  it  is  matter  of  no  small 
satisfaction,  that  having  been  drawn  accidentally  to  the  study 
of  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  France, 
I  should  have  pursued  it  in  a  form  which  so  far  accords  with  the 
views  of  the  immortal  biog-rapher  of  Knox. 

I  have  an  additional  motive  for  the  publication,  and  it  is  to  be 
found  in  the  present  prospects  of  Popery,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  the  liberalized  feeling  with  which  it  is  regarded  by 
many  professed  Protestants.  Nothing  is  better  fitted,  with  the 
Divine  blessing,  to  correct  erroneous  views  of  Popery,  than  to 
survey  its  operation  in  France,  and  towards  the  Protestant 
Church  of  that  country,  during  the  last  three  hundred  years. 
In  the  course  of  this  survey,  we  behold  it  in  all  states  of  society 
— in  peace  and  in  war — under  despotism,  and  in  comparative 
freedom — in  ignorance,  and  in  days  of  civilization  and  refine- 
ment; and  we  find  what  experience  testifies  as  to  its  ability  to 
change  for  the  better  in  any  circumstances. 

I  make  no  apology  for  the  frequency  with  which  I  give  quo- 
tations, particularly  from  the  official  documents  of  the  Protes- 
tant Church.  These  not  only  add  authority  and  weight  to  the 
facts  which  they  record,  but  the  fine  spirit  and  tone  in  which 
they  are  usually  conceived,  not  unfrequently  afllbrd  a  far  more 
correct  impression  of  the  talent  of  the  writers,  and  religious 
temper  of  the  Church,  than  any  descriptions  of  a  modern  author. 
I  have  not  always  been  careful  to  mark  the  page  or  the  chapter 
of  the  quotation.  The  most  important  are  given,  and  I  can 
assure  the  reader  of  the  accuracy  of  those  which  have  not  been 
recorded. 

My  earnest  prayer  is,  that  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  may 
bless  the  present  humble  undertaking  for  the  glory  of  His  own 
name,  and  that  this  work  may  not  only  prove  interesting  to 
Christians  at  home,  but  to  Christians  in  France,  and  urge  on  the 
blessed  revival  which  has  so  happily  begun. 

JOHN  G.  LORIMER. 
Glasgow,  21th  Nov.  1840. 


'T'^^r  ^^--r 


PROTESTANT  CHURCH  OF  FRANCE. 

CHAPTER  I. 

FR03VI    ITS    ORIGIN    IN    1559   TO    1571. 

The  friends  of  religion  are  at  present  much  interested  in  the 
symptoms  of  revival  which  are  appearing  in  the  Protestant 
Church  of  France,  and  well  may  they  be  so.  The  influence 
of  that  country,  with  its  thirty-two  millions  of  population, 
and  high  state  of  civilization,  must  be  immense  throughout 
Europe.  F«w  centres  of  Christian  influence  can  be  more 
extensively  powerful,  and  the  new  life  and  growth  of  Popery 
in  various  parts  of  France,  render  the  present  revival  of  the 
truth  the  more  interesting.  In  these  circumstances,  it  may 
not  be  unseasonable  to  recall  the  public  attention  to  the  state 
and  character  of  the  Protestant  Church,  from  its  origin  down 
to  the  present  day.  It  is  always  pleasing  to  trace  the  steps 
of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  towards  his  people;  and 
memorials  of  past  mercy  are  fitted,  when  gratefully  acknow- 
ledged, to  draw  down  the  Divine  blessing,  and  to  suggest 
plans  of  present  usefulness.  My  authority  for  the  earlier 
statements  shall  be  unexceptionable,  consisting  chiefly  of 
the  public  acts  and  decrees  of  the  national  councils  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  France,  collected  by  Quick,  in  his  Sy- 
nodicon,  and  published  in  two  folio  volumes,  at  London,  in 
1692.  Various  other  works  shall  be  referred  to,  particularly 
♦*  Status  Ecclesise  Gallicanae,"  London,  1676;  and,  as  the 
history  proceeds,  a  series  of  rare  and  important  pamphlets, 
almost  inaccessible  to  the  general  reader ;  also,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Erskine's  Sketches  of  Church  History.  My  authority  for 
most  of  the  statements  connected  with  the  corresponding 
history  of  the  Church  of  Scofland  shall  be  the  Acts  of  the 

2 


18 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


General  Assembly,  printed  and  unprinted,  and  various  MS. 
Records  of  Synods  and  Presbyteries,  to  which  I  have  had 
he  privilege  of  access. 

Many  are  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  early  history  of 
the  Protestant  Church  of  France.  It  is  imagined  that  it  was 
small  and  poor,  and  that  its  annals  contain  little  to  interest 
the  Christian  student ;  but  the  truth  is,  it  was  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  glorious  Churches  of  Christendom,  supplied 
an  immense  host  of  martyrs,  and  furnishes  the  most  inte- 
resting and  valuable  instruction  to  Christians  in  every  age. 
I  can  refer  only  to  the  more  prominent  facts.  The  doctrines 
of  the  Reformation  were  early  introduced  into  France,  and, 
as  in  other  continental  countries,  the  professors  of  them  were 
not  a  little  indebted  to  the  countenance  and  support  of  per- 
sons of  rank  and  influence.  At  a  period  when  the  Church 
of  Rome  w^as  so  completely  paramount,  it  is  not  easy  to  see, 
humanly  speaking,  how  the  gospel,  or  its  first  profession, 
could  have  made  progress  at  all,  had  not  ministers  and  people 
been  favoured  by  the  powerful.  Accordingly,  so  early  as 
1520,  the  sister  of  Francis  I.  was  a  zealous  Protestant,  while 
her  brother  was  a  bitter  persecutor.  Fifteen  years  later,  the 
Scriptures  were  translated  into  the  French  language,  by  Oli- 
vitan,  the  uncle  of  the  celebrated  Calvin,  and  shortly  after, 
the  Psalms  of  David  were  turned  into  verse  by  one  of  the 
popular  poets  of  the  day,  and  set  to  melodious  music.  This 
last  undertaking  was  attended  with  remarkable  success. 
There  had  been  nothing  of  the  same  kind  before,  and  so  the 
whole  music  of  the  people  was  perverted  to  superstitious 
and  sinful  purposes.  Now,  the  national  genius  was  enlisted 
on  the  side  of  truth.  "  Tiiis  holy  ordinance,"  says  Quick, 
"  charmed  the  ears,  hearts,  and  affections  of  court  and  city, 
towm  and  country.  They  were  sung  in  the  Louvre,  as  well 
as  in  the  Pres  des  Clerks,  by  the  ladies,  princes,  yea,  and  by 
Henry  II.  himself.  This  one  ordinance  alone  contributed 
mightily  to  the  downfall  of  Popery,  and  the  propagation  of 
the  Gospel.  It  took  so  much  with  the  genius  of  the  nation, 
that  all  ranks  and  degrees  of  men  practised  it,  in  the  temples, 
and  in  their  families.  No  gentleman  professing  the  Reform- 
ed Religion  would  sit  down  at  his  table  without  praising  God 
by  singing.  Yea,  it  was  an  especial  part  of  their  morning 
and  evening  worship  in  their  several  houses,  to  sing  God's 
praises."  Such  offence  did  this  sacred  verse  and  music 
give  to  the  Popish  priests,  and  so  much  did  they  dread  its 
power,  that  a  leading  man  of  their  number  had  the  Odes  of 


OP    FRANCE. 


19 


Horace  translated  and  set  to  music  as  a  counteractive.  Let 
us  hope  that  the  turning  of  the  Irish  Psalms  into  verse,  an 
honour  which  has  been  reserved  for  the  Rev.  Dr.  McLeod 
of  Glasgow,  will-be  as  extensively  useful  in  displacing  vin- 
dictive and  licentious  songs,  and  conveying  a  saving  know- 
ledge of  divine  truth,  in  the  most  interesting  form,  to  a  people 
not  less  susceptible  of  the  charms  of  poetry,  nor  less  deeply 
sunk  in  the  moral  degradation  of  Popery.  About  the  same 
period  in  which  the  Scriptures  were  translated  into  French, 
the  celebrated  Institutes  of  Calvin  were  published,  and  ex- 
tensively circulated.  These  means,  together  with  the  labours 
of  faithful  men,  were  crowned  with  the  divine  blessing;  and 
the  Gospel  made  such  decided  progress,  that  persecution  was 
awakened  in  a  very  virulent  form.  The  king  himself  assist- 
ed at  the  burning  of  many  martyrs  at  Paris.  These  pro- 
ceedings, as  has  often  been  the  case  in  similari  nstances,  in- 
stead of  hindering,  accelerated  the  cause  they  were  meant  to 
destroy,  and  in  so  important  a  degree,  that  in  1559,  the  first 
General  Assembly  of  the  Protestant  Church  was  held  at 
Paris,  in  the  very  face  of  a  hostile  court.  It  is  remarkable, 
that  this  was  the  very  year  before  the  first  General  Assembly 
of  the  Protestant  Church  of  Scotland  was  held  at  Edinburgh, 
so  nearly  cotemporaneous  was  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  in 
the  two  countries.  In  spite  of  all  the  persecution  v/hich  had 
been  sustained,  the  following  is  Quick's  account  of  the  Pro- 
testant cause  at  the  time  the  first  Assembly  convened  at 
Paris. 

*'  The  holy  word  of  God  is  duly,  truly,  and  powerfully 
preached  in  churches  and  fields,  in  ships  and  houses,  in 
vaults  and  cellars,  in  all  places  where  the  gospel  ministers 
can  have  admission  and  conveniency,  and  with  singular  suc- 
cess. Multitudes  are  convinced  and  converted,  established 
and  edified.  Christ  rideth  out  upon  the  white  horse  of  the 
ministry,  with  the  sword  and  bow  of  the  gospel  preached, 
conquering  and  to  conquer.  His  enemies  fall  under  him, 
and  submit  themselves  unto  him.  O  the  unparalleled  suc- 
cess of  the  plain  and  zealous  sermons  of  the  first  reformers ! 
Multitudes  flock  in  like  doves  into  the  windows  of  God's 
ark.  As  innumerable  drops  of  dew  fall  from  the  womb  of 
the  morning,  so  hath  the  Lord  Christ  the  dew  of  his  youth. 
The  Popish  churches  are  drained,  the  Protestant  temples  are 
filled.  The  priests  complain  that  their  altars  are  neglected; 
their  masses  are  now  indeed  solitary.  Dagon  cannot  stand 
before  God's  ark.     Children,  and  persons  of  riper  years,  are 


20  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

catechised  in  the  rudiments  and  principles  of  the  Christian 
rehgion,  and  can  give  a  comfortable  account  of  their  faith,  a 
reason  of  that  hope  that  is  in  them.  By  this  ordinance  do 
their  pious  pastors  prepare  them  for  communion  with  the 
Lord  at  his  holy  table.  Here  they  communicate  in  both 
kinds,  according  to  the  primitive  institution  of  the  Sacrament 
by  Jesus  Christ  himself." 

It  would  be  unjust,  however,  to  the  memory  of  the  suffer- 
ing saints  of  God,  not  to  be  a  little  more  particular  as  to  the 
early  persecutions  of  the  Protestants  of  France.  Clarke,  in 
his  Martyrology,  gives  a  short  detail,  from  which  it  appears 
that  the  fire  may  be  said  to  have  been  kindled  as  soon  as  in 
1524.  Down  to  1560,  or  in  thirty-six  years,  there  were 
ever  and  anon  cases  of  martyrdom,  in  that  most  dreadful  of 
all  forms — burning  to  death.  I  have  counted  eighty-five 
cases;  and,  as  the  historian  frequently  uses  the  general  terms 
"  several,"  "  divers,"  we  may  safely  conclude  that,  before  the 
Protestant  Church  could  boast  of  any  distinct  organization, 
more  than  a  hundred  saints  had  sealed  their  testimony  with 
their  blood.  The  English  martyrologist,  John  Foxe,  parti- 
cularizes a  hundred.  This  is  a  much  greater  number  than 
suffered  in  Scotland  in  the  same  period,  and  shows  how  keen 
and  virulent  was  the  hostility  from  the  very  first.  Indeed, 
France  has  ever  shown  a  peculiar  appetite  for  blood.  Satan 
would  crush  the  earliest  buddings  of  the  truth,  jusdy  appre- 
hensive of  what  they  would  grow  to.  Among  the  sufferers 
I  may  relate,  on  the  authority  of  M.  Savagner,  {Histoire  de 
Calvinisme  en  France,)  the  case  of  the  six,  or  rather  the 
thirty-six  persons,  destroyed  in  the  presence  and  with  the 
assistance  of  the  king,  to  whom  I  have  already  alluded. 
Francis  I.,  of  France,  ranks  in  history  as  one  of  the  most 
heroic  and  generous  of  kings,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
devoted  sons  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

"  On  the  21st  of  January  1535,  the  procession  for  public 
expiation  of  offences  against  the  holy  sacrament  issued  from 
the  church  of  St.  Germain,  bearing  the  bodies  and  the  relics  of 
all  tlie  martyrs  preserved  in  the  sanctuaries  of  Paris :  amongst 
the  rest,  the  beard  of  St.  Louis,  and  those  relics  from  the 
holy  chapel  which  had  not  been  exposed  since  his  death. 
There  were  many  cardinals,  bishops,  abbes,  and  other  pre- 
lates; all  the  secular  colleges — the  bishop  of  Paris  bearing 
the  holy  sacrament — then  followed  the  king,  uncovered,  hold- 
ing a  wax  candle  in  his  hand;  and  after  him  the  queen,  the 
princes,  the  two  hundred  gentlemen  of  the  court,  all  the  guard. 


OP    FRANCE. 


21 


the  parliament,  the  masters  of  requests,  and  all  the  bench  of 
justice— then  the  ambassadors  of  foreign  states  and  princes. 
The  procession  passed  slowly  through  all  the  quarters  of  the 
city ;  and,  in  the  six  principal  places,  an  altar  for  the  holy 
sacrament,  a  scaffold,  and  a  funeral  pile,  had  been  previously 
prepared.  At  each  of  these  spots  six  persons  were  burned 
alive!  amidst  immense  outcries  from  the  populace,  which 
was  so  excited,  that  it  attempted  to  wrest  the  victims  from 
the  executioner,  in  order  to  tear  them  in  pieces.  The  king 
had  ordered  those  unhappy  persons  to  be  tied  to  an  elevated 
machine,  a  kind  of  beam  so  balanced,  that,  as  it  was  letdown, 
they  were  plunged  into  the  flames  of  the  pile,  but  lifted  up 
again,  so  as  to  prolong  their  agonies  ;  and  this  repeated,  until 
the  cords  which  bound  them  being  consumed,  they  fell  into 
the  fire.  It  was  so  arranged,  that  the  operations  of  this  fright- 
ful see-saw  should  be  complete,  and  the  victims  fall  imme- 
diately after  the  procession  and  the  king  reached  each  station. 
And  then  the  king,  handing  his  candle  to  the  cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine, joined  his  hands,  and  humbly  prostrating  himself,  im- 
plored the  Divine  mercy  on  his  people,  until  the  victims 
perished  in  their  horrible  tortures.  Then  the  procession  ad- 
vanced, and  finally  stopping  at  the  Church  of  St.  Genevieve, 
where  the  sacrament  was  deposited  on  the  altar,  and  mass 
chanted.  After  which  the  king  and  the  princes  dined  with 
the  bishop  of  Paris,  lean  du  Bellay ;  and  the  king  made  a 
speech."  *'  At  the  very  moment  of  these  horrible  proceed- 
ings," says  M.  Savagner,  "Francis  I.  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Protestants  of  Germany,  seeking  their  friendship  and  alliance, 
in  order  to  strengthen  himself  against  his  great  rival,  Charles 
v.,  in  which  letter  he  condescended  to  the  utmost  baseness 
to  gain  his  ends." 

I  cannot  withhold  from  the  reader  the  account  of  another 
martyrdom,  which,  while  it  shows  the  malignity  of  Popery, 
beautifully  illustrates  the  power  of  true  religion.  Happily, 
the  Protestant  Church  of  France,  like  several  other  Protes- 
tant Churches,  has  been  favoured  with  a  faithful  chronicler 
of  the  sufferings  of  her  saints.  John  Crispin  of  Arras,  a 
lawyer,  has  for  France  executed  the  part  so  well  done  for 
England  by  John  Foxe,  and  for  Scotland  by  the  author  of 
the  Cloud  of  Witnesses.  These  publications  have  been  emi- 
nently useful  in  arming  the  Protestants  of  the  respective 
countries  against  the  Man  of  Sin,  and  spreading  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Reformation.  In  Crispin's  celebrated  work,  en- 
titled "  History  of  Martyrs,  persecuted  for  the  truth  of  the 


22  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

Gospel,  from  times  of  the  Apostles  to  the  year  1574,"  we 
have  a  short  account  of  the  martyrdom  of  five  young  men, 
students,  who  were  burnt  at  Lyons  in  1553.  Their  confes- 
sion and  letters  from  the  prison  in  which  they  were  confined 
for  a  year,  indicate  clear  views  of  divine  truth,  and  the  no- 
blest spirit  of  Christianity.  I  have  room  only  for  the  closing 
scene.  They  had  been  confined  in  the  same  dungeon  to 
prevent  them  contaminating  others  :  "  When  the  hour  of  two 
o'clock  came  they  were  led  out,  clad  in  gray  robes,  and  tied 
with  cords.  They  exhorted  one  another  to  presevere  stead- 
fastly, since  the  end  of  their  course  was  won,  and  victory 
was  certain.  They  were  put  into  one  wagon.  They  then 
began  to  sing  the  9th  Psalm — '  I  will  bless  thee  continually, 
O  Lord,'  &;c.  Although  they  had  no  time  to  finish  it,  yet  they 
continued  to  call  upon  God,  and  to  recite  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture. Among  others,  as  they  traversed  the  place  called 
L'Herberie,  at  the  end  of  the  bridge,  over  the  Soane,  one  of 
them  turning  to  the  crowd,  with  a  loud  voice,  said,  the  'The 
God  of  peace,  who  brought  again  from  the  dead  the  Lord 
Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of 
the  everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good 
work  to  do  his  will;'  then  they  began  to  recite  the  apostles' 
creed,  dividing  it  by  articles,  and  reciting  them  one  after 
another.  The  one  who  had  to  repeat  the  words — '  He  was 
conceived  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  horn  of  the  Virgin  3Iary,^ — 
raised  his  voice,  that  the  people  might  know  the  calumny  by 
which  it  was  pretended  they  denied  this  article,  and  that  they 
had  spoken  evil  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  Twice  they  said  to 
the  soldiers,  who  often  troubled  them,  and  threatened  to  make 
them  hold  their  peace,  '  Will  you  hinder  us  for  the  litde  time 
we  have  to  live,  from  praying  and  calling  upon  God?  At  last, 
when  they  had  reached  the  place  of  punishment,  they  were 
seen  with  a  light  heart  upon  the  pile  of  wood  which  was 
around  the  stake.  The  two  youngest  of  them  mounted  first, 
the  one  after  the  other ;  and  when  they  had  taken  off  their 
robes,  the  executioner  tied  them  to  the  stake.  The  last  who 
mounted  was  Martial  Alba,  the  oldest  of  the  five.  He  was 
a  long  time  on  both  knees  upon  the  wood,  praying  to  the 
Lord.  When  the  executioner,  who  had  tied  the  others,  came 
to  him  while  he  was  still  upon  his  knees,  he  took  him  under 
the  arms  to  put  him  down  with  the  others,  but  Alba  earnestly 
requested  Lieutenant  Tignac  to  grant  him  a  favour.  '  What 
do  you  wish?'  said  the  lieutenant.  'That  I  may  kiss  my 
brethren  before  we  die.'     The  lieutenant  consented.     Theii 


OF    FRANCE. 


23 


Martial,  who  was  slill  upon  the  top  of  the  wood,  stooped  and 
kissed  his  four  brethren,  who  were  already  bound  and  fas- 
tened to  the  stake.  He  said  to  each  of  them,  'Adieu,  adieu, 
my  brother.''  Then  the  other  four,  though  tied,  kissed  one 
another  also,  turning  their  necks,  and  saying  one  to  another 
the  same  words,  'Adieu,  my  brother.'  This  done,  and  after 
Martial  had  commended  his  brethren  to  God,  he  wished,  be- 
fore descending  to  be  fastened  to  the  stake,  to  kiss  the  exe- 
cutioner also,  saying  to  him  these  words,  '  My  friend,  forget 
not  what  I  have  said  to  thee."*  The  executioner,  when  he 
had  tied  all  the  five,  surrounded  them  with  a  chain,  which 
was  fastened  to  the  stake.  Then  the  executioner  being  or- 
dered  to  hasten,  put  around  each  of  their  necks  a  cord  to 
strangle  all  the  five  at  once,  by  means  of  a  machine  which 
he  had  ready  for  the  purpose  but  the  fire  having  burnt  the 
cord,  they  were  heard  in  the  midst  of  the  flames  exhorting 
one  another  wiih  the  words,  '  Courage,  brothers,  courage  J' 
These  were  the  last  words  which  were  heard.  Soon  had 
the  flames  consumed  their  mortal  bodies." 

This  may  be  called  the  first  period  of  persecution.  It  pre- 
ceded the  organization  of  the  Protestant  Church.  After  that 
event,  in  1559,  matters  became  much  worse.  In  the  twelve 
short  years  which  stretched  to  1571,  the  martyrologist  speaks 
of  not  less  than  forty  towns  or  cities  in  France,  where  per- 
secution prevafled,  and  of  one  hundred,  five  hundred,  twelve 
hundred  persons  being  involved  in  sufl^ering  for  Christ  at  a 
time.  Troops  were  brought  against  them,  who  inflicted  un- 
speakable atrocities;  but  the  hatred  which  was  manifested  to 
the  Scriptures  and  good  books,  the  stufl^ing  of  the  leaves  of 
the  Bible  into  the  mouths  and  wounds  of  the  dying  suflTerers, 
the  jeers  and  blasphemies  which  were  addressed  to  them  for 
calling  upon  God,  and  the  nature  of  the  insult  off'ered  to  their 
mortal  remains,  all  plainly  declared  that  the  cause  was  not 
political,  as  Papists  alleged,  but  religious,  and  that  determin- 
ed hostility  to  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  Saviour  w^as  at  the 
root  of  the  whole.  It  is  true  that,  in  this  period,  the  Pro- 
testants were  led  to  take  up  arms,  and  to  appear  against  their 
oppressors  in  the  field  of  battle ;  and  that  a  gift  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns  was  made,  and  a  permission  to  en- 
list soldiers  among  the  Protestants  of  foreign  lands,  granted. 
But  they  were  driven  to  these  steps  by  dire  necessity.  Self- 
defence  called  for  them,  and  but  for  its  urgency,  they  would 
never  have  been  resorted  to.  Let  us,  however,  return  more 
particularly  to  the  Protestant  Church  now  organized. 


24  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  French  Church  consisted 
only  of  eleven  ministers,  that  of  Scotland  of  twelve.  The 
French  ministers  met  in  secret,  and  proceeded  forthwith  to 
draw  up  a  confession  of  their  faith.  This  was  particularly 
called  for,  owing  to  the  misrepresentations  of  their  real  sen- 
timents and  views  current  among  their  enemies.  It  is  under- 
stood that  the  great  Calvin  bore  a  part  in  the  preparation  of 
this  most  interesting  and  admirable  document.  And  two 
things  are  worthy  of  notice ;  first,  that  it  was  solely  the  work 
of  the  Church — not  the  work  of  the  State  forced  upon  the 
Church;  and  secondly,  that  without  any  concert  with  other 
Protestant  Churches,  it  remarkably  harmonizes  with  the  con- 
fessions of  all,  showing  that,  under  the  teaching  of  God's 
Spirit,  no  good  men,  wherever  they  may  be  scattered,  and 
whatever  their  circumstances  of  trial,  seriously  differ  in  their 
interpretation  of  Scripture.  It  is  a  state  of  ease,  and  a  sea- 
son of  speculation,  which  lead  men  to  doubt  and  disagree  as 
to  what  is  truth.  Persecution  drives  to  first  principles,  and 
when  the  heart  is  right,  it  keeps  the  head  clear  and  sound. 

The  reader  will  peruse  with  pleasure  the  following  arti- 
cles of  the  Confession  of  Faith  which  embrace  the  doctrinal 
part: — 

*'  Article  I. — We  beheve  and  confess,  that  there  is  but 
one  God  only,  whose  being  only  is  simple,  spiritual,  eternal, 
invisible,  immutable,  infinite,  incomprehensible,  ineffable, 
who  can  do  all  things,  who  is  all-wise,  all-good,  most  just, 
and  most  merciful. 

"Art.  II. — This  one  God  hath  revealed  himself  to  be 
such  a  one  unto  man,  first,  in  the  creation,  preservation,  and 
governing  of  his  works ;  secondly,  far  more  plainly  in  his 
word,  which,  from  the  beginning,  he  revealed  to  the  fathers 
by  certain  visions  and  oracles,  and  then  caused  it  to  be  put 
in  writing  in  those  books  which  we  call  the  holy  Scripture. 

"  Art.  III. — All  this  holy  Scripture  is  contained  in  the 
canonical  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  the  cata- 
logue whereof  followeth: — The  five  books  of  Moses,  viz. 
Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and  Deuteronomy. 
Item,  Joshua,  Judges,  Ruth,  the  first  and  second  book  of 
Samuel,  the  first  and  second  book  of  Kings,  the  first  and  se- 
cond book  of  Chronicles,  otherwise  called  the  Paralipome- 
na,  one  book  of  Esdras,  or  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Hester,  Job, 
the  Psalms,  Solomon's  Proverbs  or  Sentences,  Ecclesiastes, 
the  Song  of  Songs,  Esaiah,  Jeremiah,  with  the  Lamenta- 
tions, Ezekiel,  Daniel,  Hosea,  Joel,  Amos,  Obadiah,  Jonas, 


OF   FRANCE.  25 

Micah,  Nahum,  Habakkuk,  Zephaniah,  Haggai,  Zechariah, 
Malachi.  Item,  The  holy  Gospel  according  to  St.  Matthew, 
according  to  St.  Mark,  according  to  St.  Luke,  and  according 
to  St.  John,  as  also  the  second  book  of  St.  Luke,  otherwise 
called  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Item,  The  Epistles  of  St, 
Paul,  the  apostle,  to  the  Romans  one,  to  the  Corinthians 
two,  to  the  Galatians  one,  to  the  Ephesians  one,  to  the  Phil- 
ippians  one,  to  the  Colossians  one,  to  the  Thessalonians  two, 
to  Timothy  two,  to  Titus  one,  to  Philemon  one.  Item,  The 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Episde  of  St.  James,  the  first 
and  second  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  the  first,  second  and  third 
Epistle  of  St.  John,  the  Epistle  of  St.  Jude,  and  the  Apoca- 
lypse or  Revelations  of  St.  John. 

"Art.  IV. — We  acknowledge  these  books  to  be  canonical, 
that  is,  we  account  them  as  the  most  certain  rule  of  our  faith, 
and  that  not  so  much  because  of  the  common  consent  of  the 
Church,  but  because  of  the  testimony  and  persuasion  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  by  which  we  are  taught  to  distinguish  be- 
twixt them  and  other  ecclesiastical  books,  upon  which,  al- 
though they  may  be  useful,  yet  we  cannot  ground  any  article 
of  faith. 

*'  Art.  V. — We  believe  that  the  doctrine  contained  in  these 
books  has  proceeded  from  God,  from  whom  only,  and  not 
from  men,  it  deriveth  its  authority.  And  forasmuch  as  it  is 
the  rule  of  all  truth,  containing  all  matters  necessarily  re- 
quired for  the  worship  of  God,  and  our  salvation,  it  is  in  no 
wise  lawful  for  men  nor  angels  to  add  unto,  or  to  take  from 
this  doctrine,  or  to  change  it.  And  hereupon  it  followeth, 
that  it  is  not  lawful  to  oppose  either  antiquity,  or  custom,  or 
multitude,  or  human  wisdom,  judgments,  edicts,  or  any  de- 
crees, or  councils,  or  visions,  or  miracles  unto  this  holy 
Scripture ;  but  rather,  that  all  things  ought  to  be  examined 
and  tried  by  the  rule  and  square  thereof.  Wherefore  we  do 
for  this  cause  also  allow  of  those  three  creeds,  viz.  the  Apos- 
tles', the  Nicene,  and  Athanasius  his  creed,  because  they  be 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God. 

"  Art.  VL — The  holy  Scripture  teacheth  us,  that  in  that 
one  and  simple  divine  Being  there  be  three  Persons  subsist- 
ing— the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Fa- 
ther, to  wit,  the  First  Cause  in  order,  and  the  Beginning  of 
all  things ;  the  Son,  his  Wisdom  and  Everlasting  Word ;  the 
Holy  Ghost,  his  Virtue,  Power  and  Efficacy.  The  Son  be- 
gotten of  the  Father  from  everlasting,  the  Holy  Ghost  from 
everlasting,  proceeding  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.  These 


26 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


three  Persons  are  not  confounded,  but  distinct,  and  yet  not 
divided,  but  of  one  and  the  same  essence,  eternity,  power, 
and  equality.  And  to  conclude  in  this  mystery,  we  allow  of 
that  which  those  four  ancient  councils  have  determined ; 
and  M'e  detest  all  sects  and  heresies  condemned  by  those 
holy  ancient  doctors,  St.  Athanasius,  St.  Hilary,  St.  Cyril, 
and  St.  Ambrose. 

"  Art.  VII. — We  believe  that  God,  in  three  Persons, 
working  together  by  his  power,  wisdom,  and  incomprehen- 
sible goodness,  hath  made  all  things,  not  only  heaven  and 
earth,  and  all  things  in  them  contained,  but  also  the  invisible 
spirits,  of  which  some  fell  headlong  into  destruction,  and 
some  continued  in  obedience.  That  the  fallen  angels,  being 
corrupted  by  their  malice,  are  become  enemies  of  all  good, 
and  consequently  of  the  whole  Church.  That  the  holy 
angels,  having  persevered  by  the  grace  of  God,  are  minis- 
ters to  glorify  his  name,  and  serve  his  elect  in  order  to  sal- 
vation. 

"Art.  VIII. — We  believe  that  God  hath  not  only  made 
all  things,  but  also  ruleth  and  governeth  them,  as  he  who, 
according  to  his  will,  disposeth  and  ordaineth  whatsoever 
Cometh  to  pass  in  the  world.  Yet,  we  deny  that  he  is  the  au- 
thor of  sin,  or  that  the  blame  of  things  done  amiss  can  be  laid 
upon  him,  seeing  his  will  is  the  sovereign  and  infallible  rule 
of  all  righteousness  and  equity;  but  this  we  confess,  that  he 
hath  those  admirable  means,  as  whereby  he  maketh  the  de- 
vils and  the  ungodly,  as  his  instruments,  to  serve  him,  and 
to  turn  the  evil  which  they  do,  and  whereof  they  are  guilty, 
into  good.  So  that  when  we  acknowledge  that  nothing  can 
be  done  without  the  providence  of  God,  we  do  most  humbly 
adore  his  secrets,  which  he  hath  hidden  from  us,  nor  do  we 
inquire  into  those  which  are  above  our  reach  and  capacity. 
Nay,  rather  we  apply  unto  our  own  use  that  which  the  holy 
Scripture  teacheth  us  for  our  peace  and  comfort;  to  wit,  that 
God,  to  whom  all  things  are  subject,  doth  watch  over  us 
with  a  fatherly  care,  so  that  not  so  much  as  an  hair  of  our 
head  falleth  to  the  ground  without  his  will;  and  that  he  hath 
the  devils  and  all  our  adversaries  fast  bound  in  chains,  that 
they  cannot,  without  leave  first  given  them,  do  us  any  harm. 

"  Art.  IX. — We  believe  that  man,  being  created  pure  and 
upright,  and  conformable  to  the  image  of  God,  through  his 
own  fault  fell  from  that  grace  which  he  had  received,  and 
thereby  did  so  estrange  himself  from  God,  the  fountain  of 
all  righteousness  and  of  all  good  things,  that  his  nature  is 


OF    FRANCE. 


27 


become  altogether  defiled ;  and  being  blind  in  his  understand- 
ing, and  corrupt  in  his  heart,  he  hath  utterly  lost  that  inte- 
grity; and  although  he  can  somewhat  discern  between  good 
and  evil,  yet  we  do  affirm,  that  whatsoever  light  he  hath,  it 
straightway  becometh  darkness,  vihen  the  question  is  of  ask- 
ing after  God,  so  that  by  his  understanding  and  reason  he 
can  never  come  to  God.  And  although  he  be  indued  with 
will,  whereby  he  is  moved  to  do  this  or  that,  yet  forasmuch 
as  that  also  is  in  bondage  to  sin,  that  he  hath  no  freedom  to 
desire  that  which  is  good,  but  if  he  have  any  it  is  the  gra- 
cious gift  of  God. 

"  Art.  X. — We  believe  that  all  the  offspring  of  Adam  are 
infected  with  the  contagion  of  original  sin,  which  is  a  vice 
hereditary  to  us  by  propagation,  and  not  only  by  imitation, 
as  the  Pelagians  asserted,  whose  errors  are  detested  by  us. 
Nor  do  we  think  it  necessary  to  inquire  how  this  sin  cometh 
to  be  derived  from  one  unto  another;  for  it  is  sufficient  that 
those  things  which  God  gave  to  Adam  were  not  given  to  him 
alone,  but  also  to  all  his  posterity;  and,  therefore,  we,  in  his 
person,  being  deprived  of  all  those  good  gifts,  are  fallen  into 
this  poverty  and  malediction. 

"  Art.  XL — We  believe  that  this  stain  of  original  sin  is 
sin  indeed,  for  it  hath  that  mischievous  power  in  it  as  to  con- 
demn all  mankind,  even  infants  that  are  unborn,  as  yet  in 
their  mother's  womb,  and  God  himself  doth  account  it  such; 
yea,  and  that  after  baptism,  as  to  the  filth  thereof,  it  is  al- 
ways sin.  Howbeit,  they  who  are  the  children  of  God  shall 
never  be  condemned  for  it,  because  that  God,  of  his  rich 
grace  and  sovereign  mercy,  doth  not  impute  it  to  them. 
Moreover,  we  say,  that  it  is  such  a  depravedness  as  doth 
continually  produce  the  fruits  of  malice  and  rebellion  against 
God,  so  that  even  the  choicest  of  God's  saints,  although 
they  do  resist  it,  yet  are  they  defiled  with  very  many  infir- 
mities and  offences,  so  long  as  they  hve  in  this  world. 

"  Art.  XII. — We  believe  that  out  of  this  general  corrup- 
tion and  condemnation,  in  which  all  men  are  plunged,  God 
doth  deliver  them  whom  he  hath,  in  his  eternal  and  unchange- 
able counsel,  chosen  of  his  mere  goodness  and  mercy  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  without  any  consideration  of  their 
works,  leaving  the  rest  in  their  sins  and  damnable  estate,  that 
he  may  show  forth  in  them  his  justice,  as  in  the  elect  he 
doth  most  illustriously  declare  the  riches  of  his  mercy.  For 
one  is  not  better  than  another,  until  such  time  as  God  doth 
make  the  difference,  according  to  his  unchangeable  purpose, 


28  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

which  he  hath  determined  in  Jesus  Christ  before  the  creation 
of  the  world.  Nor  can  any  one,  by  his  own  power,  pro- 
cure unto  himself  so  great  a  blessing :  because  we  cannot  by 
nature  nor  of  ourselves  excite  in  ourselves  any  one  good  mo- 
tion, thought,  or  affection,  until  such  time  as  God  does  pre- 
vent, and  incline  us  to  it  by  his  grace. 

♦'  Art.  XIII. — We  believe  that  whatsoever  is  requisite  to 
our  salvation,  is  offered  and  communicated  to  us  now  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  made  of  God  unto  us  wisdom, 
righteousness,  sanctification,  and  redemption ;  so  that  whoso- 
ever leaveth  Christ  doth  renounce  all  interest  in,  and  title  to, 
the  mery  of  God  the  Father,  to  which,  as  to  our  only  sanctu- 
ary, we  are  bound  to  have  recourse. 

*♦  Art.  XIV. — We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ,  being  the 
Wisdom  and  Eternal  Son  of  the  Father,  took  upon  him  our 
nature,  so  that  he  is  one  Person,  God  and  Man — Man,  that 
he  might  be  able  to  suffer  both  in  soul  and  body,  made  like 
unto  us  in  all  things,  sin  only  excepted;  so  that  as  to  his 
human  nature,  he  was  in  truth  the  very  seed  of  Abraham  and 
of  David,  conceived  in  due  time  in  the  womb  of  the  most 
blessed  Virgin,  by  the  secret  and  incomprehensible  power  of 
the  holy  God.  And,  therefore,  we  detest,  as  contrary  to  that 
truth,  all  those  heresies  with  which  the  Churches  were  trou- 
bled in  times  past;  and,  particularly,  we  detest  those  diabo- 
lical imaginations  of  Servetus,  who  ascribed  to  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  an  imaginary  deity,  whom  he  asserted  to  be  the 
Idea  and  Pattern  of  all  things,  and  the  counterfeit  of  figura- 
tive Son  of  God.  In  short,  he  framed  him  a  body,  compact- 
ed of  three  elements  uncreated,  and  so  did  mingle  and  over- 
throw his  nature. 

"  Art.  XV. — We  believe  that  in  one  and  the  same  Person, 
to  wit,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his  two  natures  are  truly  and 
inseparably  conjoined  and  united,  yet,  nevertheless,  in  such  a 
manner  that  each  nature  doth  retain  its  distinct  properties. 
So  that  even  as  in  this  divine  conjunction,  the  Divine  nature 
retaining  its  properties,  doth  still  abide  uncreated,  infinite, 
and  filling  all  places,  so  also  the  human  nature  remaineth 
finite,  having  its  form,  measure,  and  property.  And  although 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  he  rose  from  the  dead,  did  give 
immortality  unto  his  body,  yet  he  never  deprived  it  of  the 
verity  of  its  nature.  Therefore,  we  do  so  consider  Christ  in 
his  Deity,  that  we  do  not  spoil  him  of  his  humanity. 

*'  Art.  XVI. — We  do  believe  that  God,  by  sending  his 
Son  into  the  world,  did  declare  his  infinite  love  and  inesti- 


OF    FRANCE. 


29 


mable  goodness  to  us,  delivering  him  over  unto  death,  and 
raising  him  again  from  the  dead  that  he  might  fulfil  all  righte- 
ousness, and  purchase  everlasting  life  for  us. 

"Art.  XVII. — We  believe,  that  by  that  only  sacrifice 
which  Jesus  Christ  offered  upon  the  cross,  we  are  reconciled 
unto  God,  that  so  we  may  be  held  and  accounted  righteous 
in  his  sight,  because  we  can  never  please  him,  nor  be  par- 
takers of  his  adoption,  but  so  far  only  as  he  forgiveth  us  our 
sins,  and  burieth  them  in  his  grave.  Therefore,  we  aflnrm, 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  our  entire  and  perfect  Washing,  and  that 
by  his  death  we  obtain  full  satisfaction,  whereby  we  are  de- 
livered from  all  those  sins  of  which  we  are  guilty,  and  from 
which  we  could  never  be  absolved  by  any  other  means  or 
remedy. 

"  Art.  XVIII. — We  believe  that  our  whole  righteousness 
is  founded  in  the  remission  of  our  sins,  which  is,  as  David 
calleth  it,  our  only  happiness.  Wherefore,  we  do  utterly 
reject  all  other  means  by  which  men  do  think  they  may  be 
justified  before  God,  and  casting  away  all  conceits  of  our  own 
virtues  and  merits,  we  do  altogether  rest  upon  the  sole  obe- 
dience of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  imputed  to  us,  as  well  for 
the  covering  of  our  offences,  as  that  we  may  find  grace  and 
favour  with  God.  And,  indeed,  we  believe,  that  should  we 
in  the  least  forsake  tliis  foundation,  we  could  not  find  else- 
where any  repose,  but  must  needs  be  agitated  with  inquie- 
tudes in  our  consciences,  because  we  are  never  at  peace  with 
God  till  we  be  persuaded  upon  good  grounds  thai  we  are  be- 
loved in  Jesus  Christ.  For  that  in  ourselves  we  have  served 
to  be  hated  by  him. 

"  Art.  XIX. — We  believe  that  by  this  means  we  have 
liberty  and  privilege  of  calling  upon  God,  with  full  confi- 
dence that  he  will  show  himself  a  Father  to  us,  for  we  have 
no  access  unto  the  Father  but  in  and  through  Christ  the 
Mediator;  and,  that  we  may  be  heard  in  his  name,  it  is  meet 
that  we  should  hold  and  derive  our  life  from  him  as  from  our 
Head. 

"Art.  XX. — We  believe  that  we  are  made  partakers  of 
this  righteousness  by  faith  only,  as  it  is  written,  "He  suf- 
fered to  purchase  salvation  for  us,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  him  should  not  perish.  And  this  is,  therefore,  done 
because  the  promises  of  life  offered  to  us  in  him  are  then  ap- 
plied to  our  use,  and  made  effectual  to  us,  when  we  do  accept 
of  them,  and  in  no  wise  doubt,  but  that  we  shall  enjoy  those 
things  which  the  Lord,  by  his  own  mouth,  hath  assured  us 


30 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


of.  So  that  the  righteousness  which  we  obtain  by  faith 
depencleth  upon  the  free  gracious  promises  of  God,  by  which 
God  doth  declare  and  testify  unto  us  that  we  are  beloved  of 
him. 

"  Art.  XXI. — We  do  believe,  that  by  the  secret  grace  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  the  light  of  faith  is  kindled  up  in  us,  so  that 
it  is  a  gracious  and  special  gift  which  God  besloweth  upon 
whom  he  pleaseth;  and  the  faithful  have  nothing  whereof 
they  may  boast,  because  they  are  doubly  obliged  unto  God 
for  having  preferred  tliem  before  others,  and  for  that  he  never 
gave  faith  unto  the  elect  once  only  to  bring  them  into  the 
good  way,  but  also  to  cause  them  to  continue  in  it  unto  the 
end.  For  as  God  doth  begin  faith,  so  doth  he  also  finish  and 
perfect  it. 

"  Art.  XXII. — We  believe  that  by  this  faith  we  are  re- 
generated unto  newness  of  life,  we  being  naturally  imbon- 
daged  under  sin.  And  we  do  by  faith  receive  that  grace  to 
live  holily,  and  in  the  fear  of  God,  in  our  receiving  of  the 
promise  which  is  given  us  through  the  Gospel,  to  wit,  that 
God  will  give  us  his  Holy  Spirit.  So  that  faith  is  so  far 
from  freezing  our  affections  to  godliness  and  holy  living,  that 
contrariwise  it  doth  engender  and  excite  it  in  us,  necessarily 
producing  all  manner  of  good  works.  Finally,  Although 
God  to  accomplish  our  salvation,  doth  regenerate  and  reform 
us,  that  we  may  do  those  things  which  are  well-pleasing; 
yet,  notwithstanding,  we  do  confess  that  the  good  works 
which  we  do  by  his  Spirit,  are  never  accounted  to  us  for 
righteousness,  nor  can  we  merit  by  them  that  God  should 
take  us  for  his  children,  because  we  should  be  always  tossed 
with  doubts  and  disquiets,  if  our  consciences  did  not  repose 
themselves  upon  that  satisfaction  by  which  Jesus  Christ  hath 
purchased  us  for  himself. 

*'  Art.  XXIII. — We  believe  that  all  the  types  of  the  Law 
ended  when  as  Christ  came  in  the  fiesh.  But  although  the 
ceremonies  are  no  longer  in  use,  yet,  nevertheless,  the  sub- 
stance and  truth  of  them  abideth  always  in  His  person  who 
fulfilled  them.  Moreover,  we  must  be  holpen  by  the  law 
and  the  prophets  for  the  right  ordering  of  our  lives,  and  that 
the  promises  of  the  Gospel  may  be  confirmed  to  us. 

"Art.  XXIV. — We  believe,  that  forasmuch  as  Jesus 
Christ  is  conferred  upon  us  to  be  our  alone  Advocate,  and 
that  he  commandeth  us,  even  in  our  private  prayers,  to  pre- 
sent ourselves  before  the  Father  in  his  name;  and  that  it  is 
in  no  wise  lawful  for  us  to  call  upon  God  in  any  other  way 


OP    FRANCE. 


31 


than  he  hath  taught  us  by  his  Word;— that,  therefore,  all 
those  imaginations  of  men  about  the  intercession  of  saints 
departed  is  none  other  than  an  abuse  and  imposture  of  Satan, 
whereby  he  may  turn  men  aside  from  the  right  method  of 
prayer.  We  do  also  reject  those  means  which  men  pre- 
sumed they  had,  whereby  they  might  be  redeemed  before 
God,  for  they  derogate  from  the  satisfaction  of  the  death  and 
passion  of  Jesus  Christ.  Finally,  We  hold  purgatory  to  be 
none  other  than  a  cheat,  which  came  out  of  the  same  shop 
from  which  also  proceeded  monastical  vows,  pilgrimages, 
prohibitions  of  marriage,  and  the  use  of  meats,  a  ceremoni- 
ous observation  of  days,  auricular  confession,  indulgences, 
and  all  other  such  like  matters,  by  which  grace  and  salvation 
may  be  supposed  to  be  deserved.  Which  things  we  reject, 
not  only  for  the  false  opinion  of  merit  which  was  affixed  to 
them,  but  also  because  they  are  the  inventions  of  men,  and 
are  a  yoke  laid  by  their  sole  authority  upon  conscience. 

"Art.  XXV. — And  forasmuch  as  we  are  not  made  par- 
takers of  Christ  but  by  the  Gospel,  we  believe  that  that  good 
order  in  the  Church,  which  was  established  by  his  authority, 
ought  to  be  kept  sacred  and  inviolable ;  and,  therefore,  that 
the  Church  cannot  subsist  unless  there  be  pastors,  whose 
office  it  is  to  instruct  their  flocks,  and  who  having  been  duly 
called,  and  discharging  their  office  faithfully,  are  to  be  honour- 
ed and  heard  with  reverence.  Not  as  if  God  were  tied  unto 
such  ordinances  or  inferior  means,  but  because  it  is  good 
pleasure  in  this  sort  to  govern  us.  So  that,  for  these  rea- 
sons, we  detest  all  those  fanatical  persons  who,  as  much  as 
in  them  lieth,  would  totally  abolish  the  preaching  the  word 
and  administration  of  the  sacraments. 

"  Art.  XXVI. — Therefore,  we  believe  that  it  is  not  law- 
ful for  any  man  to  withdraw  himself  from  the  congregations 
of  God's  saints,  and  to  content  himself  with  his  private  devo- 
tions, but  all  of  us  jointly  are  bound  to  keep  and  maintain 
the  unity  of  the  Church,  submitting  themselves  unto  the 
common  instruction,  and  to  the  yoke  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
this  in  all  places  wheresoever  he  shall  have  established  the 
true  discipline,  although  the  edicts  of  earthly  magistrates  be 
contrary  thereunto ;  and  whosoever  do  separate  from  this  or- 
der do  resist  the  ordinance  of  God,  and  in  case  they  draw 
others  aside  with  them,  they  do  act  very  perversely,  and  are 
to  be  accounted  as  mortal  plagues. 

"  Art.  XXVII. — However,  we  do  believe  that  we  ought 
to  distinguish  carefully  and  prudently  betwixt  the  true  and 


32  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

false  Church,  because  the  word  church  is  very  much  abused. 
We  say,  then,  according-  to  the  Word  of  God,  that  the  Church 
is  an  assembly  of  behevers  who  agree  among  themselves  to 
follow  God's  Word,  and  the  pure  religion  which  dependeth 
on  it,  and  who  profit  by  it  during  their  whole  life,  increasing 
and  confirming  themselves  in  the  fear  of  God,  as  being  per- 
sons who  do  daily  need  a  further  progress  and  advancement 
in  godliness.  Yet,  notwithstanding  all  their  endeavours, 
they  must  have  continual  recourse  to  the  grace  of  God  for 
the  forgiveness  of  their  sins.  Nor  do  we  deny  but  that 
among  the  faithful  there  be  some  hypocrites  or  despisers  of 
God,  or  ill-livers,  whose  wickedness,  however,  cannot  blot 
out  the  name  of  the  Church. 

*'  Art.  XXVIII. — In  this  belief  we  protest  that  when  the 
Word  of  God  is  not  received,  and  where  there  is  no  profes- 
sed subjection  to  it,  and  where  there  is  no  use  of  the  sacra- 
ments, if  we  will  speak  properly,  we  cannot  judge  that  there 
is  any  Church.  Wherefore  we  condemn  those  assemblies  in 
the  Papacy,  because  the  pure  Word  of  God  is  banished  out 
of  them,  and  for  that  in  them  the  sacraments  are  corrupted, 
counterfeited,  falsified,  or  utterly  abolished,  and,  for  that 
among  them,  all  kinds  of  superstitions  and  idolatries  are  in 
full  vogue.  We  hold,  then,  that  all  those  who  meddle  with 
such  actions,  and  communicate  with  them,  do  separate  and 
cut  themselves  off  from  the  body  of  Christ  Jesus.  Yet, 
nevertheless,  because  there  is  yet  some  small  track  of  a 
Church  in  the  Papacy,  and  that  baptism,  as  to  its  substance, 
hath  been  siill  continued,  and  because  the  efficacy  of  baptism 
doth  not  depend  upon  him  who  doth  administer  it,  we  confess 
that  they  which  are  there  baptized  do  not  need  a  second  bap- 
tism. In  the  meanwhile,  because  of  those  corruptions  which 
are  mingled  with  the  administration  of  that  sacrament,  no 
man  can  present  his  children  to  be  baptized  in  that  Church 
without  polluting  of  his  conscience. 

"  Art.  XXIX. — We  believe  that  this  true  Church  ought 
to  be  governed  by  that  discipline  which  our  Lord  Jesus  hath 
established ;  so  that  there  should  be  in  the  Church,  pastors, 
elders  and  deacons,  that  the  pure  doctrine  may  have  its 
course,  and  vices  may  be  reformed  and  suppressed,  that  the 
poor,  and  other  afflicted  persons,  may  be  succoured  in  their 
necessities,  and  that  in  the  name  of  God  there  may  be  holy 
assemblies  in  which  both  great  and  small  may  be  edified. 

*'  Art.  XXX. — We  believe  that  all  true  pastors,  in  what- 
ever places  they  may  be  disposed,  have  all  the  same  author- 


OF   FRANCE. 


33 


ity,  and  equal  power  among  themselves  under  Jesus  Christ 
the  only  Head,  the  only  Sovereign,  and  only  universal  Bish- 
op; and  that,  therefore,  it  is  unlawful  for  any  Church  to 
challenge  unto  itself  dominion  or  sovereignty  over  another, 
however  it  is  requisite  that  all  care  should  be  taken  for  the 
keeping  up  of  mutual  concord  and  brotherly  love.     ' 

"  Art.  XXXI. — We  believe  that  it  is  not  lawful  for  any 
man  of  his  own  authority  to  take  upon  himself  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church,  but  that  every  one  ought  to  be  admitted 
thereunto  by  a  lawful  election,  if  it  may  possibly  be  done, 
and  that  the  Lord  do  so  permit  it.  Which  exception  we  have 
expressly  added,  because  that  sometime,  (as  it  hath  fallen  out 
in  our  days,)  the  state  of  the  Church  being  interrupted,  God 
hath  raised  up  some  persons  in  an  extraordinary  manner  to 
repair  the  ruins  of  the  decayed  Church.  But,  let  it  be  what 
it  will,  we  believe  that  this  rule  is  always  to  be  followed, 
that  all  pastors,  elders  and  deacons  should  have  a  testimony 
of  their  being  called  unto  their  respective  offices. 

"  Art.  XXXII. — We  believe  that  it  is  expedient,  that 
they  who  be  chosen  superintendents  in  the  Church  should 
wisely  consult  among  themselves  by  what  means  the  whole 
body  may  conveniently  be  ruled,  yet  so  as  they  do  not 
swerve  from  that  which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  instituted. 
And  this  doth  not  hinder  but  that  in  some  Churches  there 
may  be  those  particular  constitutions,  which  will  be  more 
convenient  for  them  than  for  others. 

"Art.  XXXIIL — But  we  exclude  all  human  inventions, 
and  all  those  laws  which  are  introduced  to  bind  the  conscience 
under  pretence  of  God's  service.  And  we  do  only  receive 
such  as  serve  to  keep  up  concord,  and  to  retain  every  one, 
from  the  highest  unto  the  lowest,  in  due  obedience.  In 
which  we  conceive  that  we  are  to  observe  that  which  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  appointed  concerning  excommunication, 
which  we  do  very  well  approve  and  acknowledge  the  neces- 
sity thereof,  and  of  its  appendages. 

"  Art.  XXXIV. — We  believe  that  the  sacraments  are  ad- 
joined unto  the  word  for  its  more  ample  confirmation,  to  wit, 
that  they  may  be  pledges  and  tokens  of  the  grace  of  God, 
and  that  by  these  means,  our  faith,  which  is  very  weak  and 
ignorant,  may  be  supported  and  comforted.  For  we  confess 
that  these  outward  signs  be  such,  that  God,  by  the  power  of 
his  Holy  Spirit,  doth  work  by  them,  that  nothing  may  be 
there  represented  to  us  in  vain.  Yet,  nevertheless,  we  hold 
that  all  their  substance  and  virtue  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  from 

3 


34  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

whom,  if  they  be  separated,  they  be  nothing  else  but  sha- 
dows and  smoke. 

*'  Art.  XXXV. — We  acknowledge  that  there  be  two  sa- 
craments only,  which  are  common  to  the  whole  Church, 
whereof  Baptism  is  the  first,  which  is  administered  to  us  to 
testify  our  adoption,  because  we  are  by  it  ingrafted  into  the 
body  of  Christ,  that  we  may  be  washed  and  cleansed  by  his 
blood,  and  afterwards  renewed  in  holiness  of  life  by  his 
Spirit.  We  hold  also,  that  although  we  be  baptized  but  once, 
yet  the  benefits  which  are  signified  to  us  therein  do  extend 
themselves  during  the  whole  course  of  our  life,  even  unto 
death,  that  so  we  may  have  a  lasting  signature  with  us  that 
Jesus  Christ  will  always  be  our  righteousness  and  sanctifica- 
tion.  And  although  baptism  be  a  sacrament  of  faith  and  re- 
pentance, yet,  forasmuch  as  God  doth,  together  with  the 
parents,  account  their  children  and  posterity  to  be  Church 
members,  we  aflfirm  that  infants  born  of  believing  parents 
are,  by  the  authority  of  Christ,  to  be  baptized. 

"  Art.  XXXVI. — We  affirm  that  the  holy  Supper  of  our 
Lord,  to  wit,  the  other  sacrament,  is  a  witness  to  us  of  our 
union  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  because  that  he  is  not  only 
once  dead,  and  raised  up  again  from  the  dead  for  us,  but  also 
he  doth  indeed  feed  us  and  nourish  us  with  his  flesh  and 
blood,  that  we  being  made  one  with  him,  may  have  our  life 
in  common  with  him.  And  although  He  be  now  in  heaven, 
and  shall  remain  there  till  he  come  to  judge  the  world ;  yet, 
we  believe,  that  by  the  secret  and  incomprehensible  virtue  of 
his  Spirit,  he  doth  nourish  and  quicken  us  with  the  substance 
of  his  body  and  blood.  But  we  say  that  this  is  done  in  a 
spiritual  manner;  nor  do  we  hereby  substitute  in  the  place 
of  the  effect  and  truth  an  idle  fancy  and  conceit  of  our  own, 
but  rather,  because  this  mystery  of  our  union  with  Christ  is 
so  high  a  thing,  that  it  surmounteth  all  our  senses,  yea,  and 
the  whole  order  of  nature :  and,  in  short,  because  it  is  celes- 
tial, therefore  it  cannot  be  apprehended  but  by  faith. 

"  Art.  XXXVII. —  We  believe,  as  was  said  before,  that 
both  in  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  God  doth  indeed, 
truly  and  effectually,  give  whatsoever  he  doth  there  sacra- 
mentally  exhibit,  and  therefore  we  conjoin  with  the  signs  the 
true  possession  and  enjoyment  of  what  is  offered  to  us  in 
them.  Therefore  we  affirm,  that  they  which  do  bring  pure 
faith,  as  a  clean  vessel,  unto  the  holy  Supper  of  the  Lord, 
they  do  indeed  receive  that  which  the  signs  do  there  witness, 
that  is,  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  are  no  less 


OF  FRANCE.  35 

the  meat  and  drink  of  the  soul  than  bread  and  wine  are  the 
meat  of  the  body. 

*'  Art.  XXXVIII. — We  say,  therefore,  that  let  the  ele- 
ment  of  water  be  never  so  despicable,  yet,  notwithstanding, 
it  doth  truly  witness  unto  us  the  inward  washing  of  our  souls 
with  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  virtue  and  efficacy  of 
his  Spirit;  and  that  the  bread  and  wine,  being  given  us  in 
the  Lord's  Supper,  do  serve  in  very  deed  unto  our  spiritual 
nourishment,  because  they  do,  as  it  were,  point  out  unto  us 
with  the  finger,  that  the  flesh  of  Jesus  Christ  is  our  meat, 
and  his  blood  our  drink.  And  we  reject  those  fanatics  who 
will  not  receive  such  signs  and  marks,  although  Jesus  Christ 
doth  speak  plainly,  '  This  is  my  body,  and  this  cup  is  my 
blood.' 

"  Art.  XXXIX.— We  believe  that  God  will  have  the 
world  to  be  ruled  by  laws  and  civil  government,  that  there 
may  be  some  sort  of  bridles  by  which  the  unruly  lusts  of  the 
world  may  be  restrained;  and  that,  therefore,  he  appointed 
kingdoms,  commonwealths,  and  other  kinds  of  principalities, 
whether  hereditary  or  otherwise.  And  not  that  alone,  but 
also  whatsoever  pertaineth  to  the  ministration  of  justice, 
whereof  he  avoucheth  himself  the  Author;  therefore  hath  he 
even  delivered  the  sword  into  the  magistrate's  hand,  that  so 
sins  committed  against  both  the  tables  of  God's  law,  not  only 
against  the  second  but  the  first  also,  may  be  suppressed. 
And,  therefore,  because  God  is  the  Author  of  this  order,  we 
must  not  only  suffer  magistrates,  whom  he  hath  set  over  us, 
but  we  must  also  give  them  all  honour  and  reverence,  as  unto 
his  officers  and  lieutenants,  which  have  received  their  com- 
mission from  him  to  exercise  so  lawful  and  sacred  a  function. 

"Art.  XL. — Therefore,  we  affirm,  that  obedience  must 
be  yielded  unto  their  laws  and  statutes,  that  tribute  must  be 
paid  them,  taxes  and  all  other  duties,  and  that  we  must  bear 
the  yoke  of  subjection  with  a  free  and  willing  mind,  although 
the  magistrates  be  infidels,  so  that  the  sovereign  government 
of  God  be  preserved  entire.  Wherefore,  we  detest  all  those 
who  do  reject  the  higher  powers,  and  would  bring  in  a  com- 
munity and  confusion  of  goods,  and  subvert  the  course  of 
justice." 

I  shall  allude  next  to  a  few  of  the  points  of  church  dis- 
cipline in  the  Church  of  France.  That  discipline,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  from  the  strong  views  of  doctrine,  was 
strict  and  comprehensive.     Ministers,  on  pain  of  deposition, 


36  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

were  required  actually  to  reside  beside  their  churches,  and 
to  be  entirely  devoted  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  This,  at 
a  period  when  there  was  so  much  distraction  from  persecu- 
tion, and  when  a  pastor's  temporal  provision  was  so  slender 
and  precarious,  shows  how  high  was  the  sense  entertained 
of  the  importance  of  the  ministerial  office,  and  how  great 
was  the  anxiety  that  the  people  should  reap  its  full  advan- 
tages. 

"  No  minister,  together  with  the  holy  ministry,  shall  be  a 
practitioner  in  law  or  physic ;  yet  out  of  charity  he  may  give 
counsel  and  assistance  to  the  poor  of  his  flock  and  of  his 
neighbourhood — provided  always,  that  he  be  not  thereby  di- 
verted from  his  calling,  nor  derive  any  gain  from  his  practice, 
unless  in  times  of  trouble  and  persecution,  and  when  he  can- 
not exercise  his  calling  in  his  church,  and  cannot  be  main- 
tained by  it.  And  those  who  shall  thus  employ  themselves 
in  law  or  physic,  or  in  any  other  worldly  distracting  business, 
shall  be  exhorted  wholly  to  forbear  it,  and  totally  to  devote 
themselves  unto  the  duties  of  their  calling  as  ministers,  and 
to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures.  And  all  colloquies  and  synods 
are  admonished  to  proceed  according  to  the  canons  of  our 
discipline  against  the  refractory,  and  such  as  be  willingly 
disobedient;  as  also  against  those  who  spend  so  much  of 
their  time  in  teachmg  youth,  that  it  is  an  hindrance  to  them 
in  the  principal  duties  of  their  ministerial  office.  And  all 
consistories,  colloquies,  and  provincial  synods,  shall  have  a 
most  especial  care  and  regard  that  this  canon  be  punctually 
observed,  and  to  suspend  such  as  do  transgress  it  from  their 
exercise  of  the  ministry." 

The  anxiety  was  not  less  for  a  well  educated  ministry.  It 
would  not  have  been  wonderful,  in  the  circumstances  in 
which  the  Protestant  Church  stood,  that  she  had  contented 
herself  with  pious,  though  illiterate  men;  but  she  knew  what 
it  was  to  fight  with  Popery — how  needful  are  good  training 
and  learning  for  the  contest — and  how  well  entitled  the  Great 
Head  of  the  Church  is  to  the  best  gifts,  and  qualifications 
and  services  of  his  people ;  and  so  she  made  provision  for  a 
well  educated  ministry.  Candidates  for  the  holy  office  were 
required  to  compose  a  brief  confession  of  their  faith  in  Latin, 
and  to  be  able  to  defend  it,  when  assailed,  in  the  same  lan- 
guage. 

"  That  our  churches  may  be  always  furnished  with  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  pastors,  and  of  other  persons  fit  to  govern 
them,  and  to  preach  the  word  of  God  unto  them,  they  shall 


OP    FRANCE.  37 

be  advised  to  choose  those  scholars  who  be  already  well  ad- 
vanced in  good  learning,  and  be  of  the  most  promising  hope- 
ful parts,  and  to  maintain  such  in  the  universities,  that  they 
may  be  there  prepared  and  fitted  for  the  work  of  the  minis- 
try, ever  preferring  the  children  of  poor  ministers,  if  inge- 
nious, before  all  others;  of  which  the  colloquies  shall  take 
a  most  especial  care.  Kings,  princes,  and  lords,  shall  be 
exhorted  and  petitioned  particularly  to  mind  this  important 
affair,  and  to  lay  by  some  part  and  portion  of  their  revenues 
towards  their  maintenance ;  and  the  richer  churches  shall  do 
the  like.  Colloquies  and  provincial  synods  shall,  as  they 
see  meet,  notify  and  solicit  this  affair,  and  take  the  best 
courses  that  matters  of  so  great  necessity  may  be  successful ; 
and  if  singfe  churches  cannot  do  it,  their  neighbours  shall 
join  with  them,  that  one  poor  scholar  at  the  least  may  be 
maintained  in  every  colloquy ;  and  rather  than  this  design 
should  miscarry,  the  fifth  penny  of  all  our  charities  shall  be 
set  apart,  if  it  may  conveniently  be  done,  to  be  employed  in 
this  service." 

The  education  and  learning  thus  received  were  not  to  be 
allowed  to  remain  dormant.  They  were  to  be  used  for  the 
defence  and  propagation  of  the  truth.  ♦*  They  who  are  en- 
dowed with  gifts  for  writing,  shall  be  chosen  by  the  pro- 
vinces; and  if  it  happen  that  any  books  be  published  against 
the  true  religion,  they  shall  be  sent  unto  them,  that  they  may 
be  answered;  and  there  shall  be  a  colloquy  in  each  province, 
appointed  unto  this  peculiar  business,  carefully  to  peruse  all 
MSS.  before  they  be  printed,  and  what  is  published,  and  to 
disperse  the  copies." 

While  so  much  was  required  of  ministers,  their  outward 
provision  was  not  neglected.  Judicious  steps  were  taken 
for  their  "comfortable  subsistence"  while  they  lived;  and 
an  express  canon  secures  "  that  the  church  in  whose  service 
a  minister  dieth,  shall  take  care  of  his  widow  and  orphans; 
and  if  the  church  cannot  do  it,  through  want  of  ability,  the 
province  shall  maintain  them."  This  was  kind  and  consi- 
derate, worthy  of  a  Christian  Church  which  had  but  recently 
come  forth  from  the  furnace  of  persecution.  Other  regula- 
tions were  not  less  wise.  With  regard  to  education,  the 
Protestant  Church  of  France,  like  all  other  Presbyterian 
Churches,  was  its  warm  friend.  She  was  not  afraid  of 
knowledge.  It  is  ordained,  "  the  churches  shall  do  their 
utmost  endeavour  to  erect  schools,  and  take  care  of  the  in- 
struction of  their  youth ;"  and  "all  ministers  shall  endea- 


38 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


vour  to  catechise  every  one  in  their  flocks  once  or  twice  a 
year,  and  shall  exhort  them  to  conform  themselves  thereunto 
very  carefully."  With  regard,  again,  to  the  poor,  it  was 
enjoined  that  every  church  should  seek  to  support  its  own 
poor — a  wholesome  practice,  which,  for  many  years,  was 
universal  throughout  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland, 
and  which  still  prevails  to  a  considerable  extent.  *'  To  pre- 
vent those  disorders  which  daily  fall  out  by  reason  of  certi- 
ficates given  unto  the  poor,  every  church  shall  endeavour  to 
maintain  its  own ;  and  in  case  any  one  be  constrained,  through 
the  urgency  of  his  affairs,  to  travel,  ministers  shall  examine 
with  the  greatest  care  in  their  consistories,  tiie  just  causes  of 
his  journey,  and  thereupon  shall  give  him  letters  directed  to 
the  next  church,  lying  in  the  straight  way  by  which  he  must 
go,  specifying  his  name,  age,  stature,  hair,  and  the  place 
whither,  and  the  cause  of  his  travel,  and  the  assistance 
which  was  given  him ;  nor  shall  the  dale  of  the  day  and 
year  be  omitted ;  which  letters,  the  church  he  is  directed  to, 
shall  keep  by  it,  and  give  him  others  unto  the  next;  and  all 
certificates  formerly  given  shall  be  torn  in  pieces." 

With  respect,  again,  to  the  general  conduct  of  church 
members,  it  was  ordained  in  the  following  terms : 

"Printers,  booksellers,  painters,  and  other  artificers,  and, 
in  general,  all  the  faithful,  and,  in  particular,  such  as  bear 
office  in  the  Church,  shall  be  admonished  that  they  do  not  in 
the  least  act  any  thmg  in  their  calling  that  tends  direcdy  to 
countenance  the  superstitions  of  the  Church  of  Rome;  and 
as  for  secret  acts,  and  the  censure  incurred  by  them,  their 
judgment  is  left  unto  the  consistory."  "Fathers  and  mo- 
thers shall  be  exhorted  to  be  very  careful  of  their  children's 
education,  which  are  the  seedplot  and  promising  hopes  of 
God's  Church.  And,  therefore,  such  as  send  them  to  school 
to  be  taught  by  priests,  monks,  Jesuits,  and  nuns,  they  shall 
be  prosecuted  with  all  Church  censures.  Those,  also,  shall 
be  censured  who  dispose  of  their  children  to  be  pages,  or 
servants,  unto  lords  and  gentlemen  of  the  contrary  religion." 
"  Churches  which  have  printers  belonging  to  them,  shall  ad- 
vise them  not  to  print  any  books  concerning  religion  or  the 
discipline  of  the  Church,  without  having  first  communicated 
them  unto  the  consistory,  because  of  those  manifold  incon- 
veniences which  have  formerly  happened  upon  this  account. 
And  neither  printers,  nor  booksellers,  nor  hawkers,  shall  sell 
any  books  of  idolatry,  or  that  are  scandalous,  stuffed  with 
ribaldry  or  impiety,  which  tend  to  the  corrupting  of  good 
manners." 


OF    FRANCE.  39 

At  the  same  time,  while  thus  decided,  as  all  Protestant 
Churches  should  be,  against  the  errors  and  superstitions  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  there  was  no  spirit  of  bitterness  or 
provocation  towards  individual  Roman  Cathohcs.  It  is  ex- 
pressly enjoined,  as  strongly  as  any  of  the  preceding  canons, 
that  "  all  violence  and  injurious  words  against  the  members 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  as  also  against  priests  and  monks, 
shall  not  only  be  forborne,  but  also,  as  much  as  may  be, 
shall  be  totally  suppressed." 

I  might  refer  to  many  other  wise  and  salutary  regulations, 
but  it  is  unnecessary.  Let  me  quote  only  that  which  alludes 
to  the  dispensation  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  At  the  first  na- 
tional Synod  held  at  Paris,  it  was  appointed  that,  at  the 
closing  up  of  the  Synod,  the  Lord's  supper  "  shall  be  cele- 
brated, to  testify  their  union,  not  only  by  the  ministers  and 
elders  of  the  Synod,  but  in  general  with  the  whole  Church." 
And,  as  a  general  rule,  the  following  canon  was  adopted: 

"  Although  it  hath  not  been  the  custom  to  administer  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  the  greatest  part  of  our  churches  more  than 
four  times  a-year,  yet  it  were  to  be  desired  that  it  might  be 
oftener,  so  that  the  reverence  which  is  needful  for  this  holy 
sacrament  could  be  kept  up  and  observed.  Because  it  is 
most  profitable  for  the  children  of  God  to  be  exercised,  and 
grow  in  faith  by  the  frequent  use  of  the  sacraments ;  and  the 
example  of  the  primitive  Church  doth  invite  us  to  it.  And, 
therefore,  our  national  Synods  shall  take  that  care  and  order 
in  this  matter  as  is  requisite  for  the  weal  and  happiness  of 
our  churches." 

A  striking  proof  of  the  high  state  of  discipline,  and  the 
deep  tenderness  of  conscience  which  prevailed  in  the  Pro- 
testant Church  of  France,  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact, 
that  in  the  very  first  Synod  of  Paris,  above  twenty  cases  of 
conscience  were  discussed  and  decided  upon;  and,  it  may 
be  added,  the  judgments  of  the  Assembly  were  generally 
marked  with  much  good  sense,  and  great  regard  for  the  au- 
athority  of  the  word  of  God. 

The  unexceptionable  character  of  the  Confession  of  Faith 
and  Canons  of  Discipline  which  the  Protestant  Church  drew 
up  at  Paris  in  1559,  and  published,  did  not  save  her  from 
the  violence  of  her  enemies.  She  may  have  had  rest  for  a 
year  or  two,  but  shortly  persecution  was  revived.  One 
sovereign  after  another  proved  equally  adverse.  Mere  men 
of  the  world  would  have  been  wearied  out  by  such  treatment, 
but  the  Spirit  of  God  rested  upon  the  Church  and  upon  the 


40 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


admirable  standards  under  which  she  was  organized,  and  so 
her  members  increased  and  multiplied  from  day  to  day.     In 
1571,  or  in  twelve  short  years  from  the  period  of  her  first 
public  Assembly,  she  may  be  said  to  have  reached  her  highest 
prosperity.     At  the  Synod  or  General  Assembly  of  Rochelle 
in  1571,  the  celebrated  Theodore  Beza  presided  as  modera- 
tor; and  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  the  Prince  of  Navarre,  Henry 
de  Bourbon,  Prince  of  Conde,  Prince  Lewis,  Count  of  Nas- 
sau, and  Count  de  Coligny,  Admiral  of  France,  and  other 
lords  and  gendemen,  were  present.     So  rapid  had  been  the 
diffusion  of  the  Gospel,  under  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit, 
that  Beza  could  count  2150  churches  in  connection  with  the 
Protestant  Church  of  France — almost  double  the  number  of 
the  present  Church  of  Scotland ;  and  the  churches  were  not 
small  or  insignificant  in  point  of  strength.     In  some  there 
were  10,000  members.     The  church  of  Orleans  had  7000 
communicants;    and   the  ministers  in  such  churches  were 
proportionally  numerous ;    two  ministers  to  a  church  was 
common,  and  that  of  Orleans  had  five.     At  this  period  there 
were  .305  pastors  in  the  one  province  of  Normandy,  and  in 
Provence  there  were  60.    All  this  betokens  wonderful  growth. 
What  a  contrast  to  the  present  state  of  the  French  Protes- 
tant Church !   With  all  its  revival  of  late  years,  it  appears,  on 
the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Davis,  in  his  recent  "Letters 
from  France,"  that  for  between  two  and  three  millions  of 
professed  Protestants,  there  are  only  between  four  and  five 
hundred  churches,  and  three  hundred  ministers.     The  Ec- 
clesiastical Budget  for  1837  gives  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
six  pastors  of  the  Reformed  Church.     What  an  unhappy 
change  !  We  have  beheld  the  French  Protestant  Church  at 
the  height  of  her  glory ;  and  we   may  draw  from  the  facts 
detailing  her  rapid  prosperity  the  cheering  inference,  that 
God,  who  vouchsafed  his  Spirit  so  plentifully  in  former  times, 
may  vouchsafe  his  influences  as  richly  and  suddenly  in  these 
latter  days.    Good  men  are  often  discouraged  in  their  prayers 
and  labours,  by  thinking  that  the  progress  of  Christianity 
must  necessarily  be  slow  and  tedious.     Let  them  remember 
the  history  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France,  and  be  ani- 
mated and  refreshed.     God  is  as  able  and  as  willing  as  ever 
to  interpose  in  behalf  of  his  people,  and  frequently  there  is 
one  characteristic  style  of  dealing  towards  the  same  Church 
in  different  ages.     If,  in  twelve  years,  he  wrought  such  a 
change  in  and  by  the  persecuted  Church  of  France,  who  can 
tell  what  happy  moral  and  religious  changes  may  be  accom- 


OF    FRANCE. 


41 


plished  by  the  same  Church  in  these  latter  days  ?  And  who  can 
estimate  what  glorious  achievements  the  Christian  Church  of 
Britian  may  be  honoured  to  effect,  in  more  favourable  cir- 
cumstances, in  as  brief  a  space  of  time. 

In  reading  the  history  of  modern  missions  in  the  South 
Seas,  one  is  struck  with  the  rapidity  of  the  change.  Often 
a  few  days,  or  weeks,  or  months,  according  to  Williams, 
were  sufficient  to  induce  whole  islands,  comprehending  sev- 
eral thousand  inhabitants,  to  abandon  their  idolatry,  though 
taught  only  by  two  or  three  humble  agents.  The  con- 
version of  a  kw  of  the  leading  chiefs  led  to  the  conversion 
of  the  great  body  of  the  people,  at  least,  to  the  renunciation 
of  the  horrible  creed  and  practices  of  their  fathers.  Tidings 
of  change  in  one  island,  led  to  change  in  another.  Singular 
events  in  the  providence  of  God,  too,  such  as  epidemics 
and  famines,  under  which  superstition  could  afford  no  com- 
fort, seem,  when  the  people  had  reached  a  certain  awakened 
state  of  mind,  to  have  acted  as  precursors  and  hasteners  of 
the  change.  It  is  certain,  that  when  the  lies  of  heathenism 
were  once  found  out,  like  broken  credit  at  a  bank,  the  public 
confidence  at  once  gave  way  on  every  point.  The  experi- 
ence of  Scotland,  in  reference  to  Popery  atthe  Reformation, 
as  I  shall  have  occasion  to  notice,  was  similar.  Both  cases 
hold  out  the  pleasing  prospect,  that  when  God's  time  arrives, 
all  superstition,  whether  Popish  or  Pagan,  shall  be  overtaken 
with  the  same  rapid  destruction.  Who  can  doubt  that  were 
a  considerable  body  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood  in 
this  country,  at  this  moment,  to  throw  off  Popery,  tens  of 
thousands  of  the  people  would  follow  their  example?  This 
is  one  of  the  consolations  in  connection  with  false  religion, 
that  when  it  does  break  up,  it  will  disappear  like  smoke, 
and,  by  the  suddenness  and  universality  of  its  death,  so  to 
speak,  compensate  for  the  duration  of  its  life.  It  is  an  in- 
teresting remark  of  the  sacred  writer,  in  reference  to  the 
cleansing  of  the  House  of  God,  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah: 
"And  Hezekiah  rejoiced,  and  all  the  people,  that  God  had 
prepared  the  people  ;  for  the  thing  was  done  suddenly. 


42  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

CHAPTER  11. 

FROM  1572  TO  1598. 

The  progress  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  was  ex- 
ceedingly rapid,  and  indicated  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  in  a  remarkable  manner.  But  matters  were  not  long 
permitted  to  remain  in  this  prosperous  condition.  Provoked, 
it  would  seem,  with  the  amazing  growth  of  the  cause  of  God, 
the  great  adversary  of  the  Church  stirred  up  the  most  violent 
opposition  against  her  members,  and,  doubtless,  their  own 
shortcomings  also  lent  an  unhappy  influence  in  bringing 
down  upon  them  the  heavy  chastisement  under  which  they 
were  now  destined  to  groan.  No  sooner  had  the  Church  of 
France  become  eminent  for  character  and  numbers,  than  she 
became  eminent  for  her  suflTerings.  The  day  of  aflliction 
often  follows  quickly  upon  the  day  of  prosperity. 

Various  are  the  forms  of  persecution  which  the  Church  of 
Rome  has  employed,  but  the  present  was,  perhaps,  one  of 
the  most  savage  and  cowardly  of  the  whole.  A  scheme  was 
devised  for  treacherously  cutting  off  the  whole  Protestant 
population — at  least  the  influential  portion — at  a  blow ;  and  to 
a  considerable  extent  the  scheme  was  successful.  I  allude 
to  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  in  1572, — a  mas- 
sacre which  was  begun  at  Paris,  at  midnight,  upon  unoflend- 
ing  Protestants  collected  into  the  capital  on  false  pretences, 
and  which  was  afterwards  extended  to  the  country,  lasting 
for  days  and  months,  and  destroying  not  less,  according  to 
Sully,  than  sixty  or  seventy  thousand  persons.  The  iirst 
who  fell  was  Admiral  Colign5s  eminent  at  once  for  his  rank 
and  his  piety.  I  need  not  sicken  the  reader  with  the  details 
of  this  infamous  massacre  ;  but  it  is  due  to  the  memory  of 
the  suffering  saints  of  God,  whose  record  is  on  high,  that  I 
mention  a  few  particulars.  It  appears,  then,  from  unques- 
tionable Roman  Catholic  authorities,  that  this  crime  of  in- 
describable atrocity,  was  not  the  deed  of  a  passionate  mo- 
ment, but  was  deliberately  planned  two  years  before;  and 
that  the  peace  of  the  space  of  time  which  preceded  it,  was 
intended,  and,  as  it  proved,  successfully,  to  draw  the  Protes- 
tants together,  throw  them  off  their  guard,  and  render  the 
slaughter  the  more  complete.  There  were  60,000  armed 
men  collected  in  Paris  for  the  work  of  murder.     This  inci- 


OF    FRANCE.  43 

dentally  shows  how  numerous  and  influential  the  adherents 
of  the  Reformed  Faith  had  been.  One  man  boasted,  that  he 
had  killed  a  hundred  with  his  own  hand.  The  river  Seine 
was  literally  dyed  with  blood.  The  bodies  of  Protestants 
were  opened,  and  rifled  of  whatever  could  be  converted  into 
money.*  By  a  dreadful  retribution,  those  of  the  Reformed 
Church  who  had  become  apostates,  were  required  to  show 
the  sincerity  of  their  new  faith,  by  being  foremost  in  the 
slaughter  of  their  brethren.  The  example  of  Paris  was  a 
signal  for  all  the  leading  towns.  They  followed  in  her 
bloody  steps.  In  a  few  days,  6000  were  slain  at  Rouen.  In 
five  or  six  towns,  such  as  Sancerre,  Privas,  Rochelle,  Mon- 
tauban,  and  Nismes,  the  Protestants  were  strong  enough  to 
defend  themselves,  but  the  attempt  brought  no  real  advantage. 
It  added  to  their  sorrows :  they  were  besieged,  and  involved 
in  famine,  which  cut  off  even  more  than  the  sword.  Such 
was  the  fierceness  of  the  siege,  that,  in  the  case  of  Rochelle, 
in  a  single  month,  13,000  cannon-shot  were  directed  against 
the  town.  Amid  all  these  terrible  proceedings,  there  was  no 
relenting  on  the  part  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  At  Lyons, 
the  Pope's  Legate,  meeting  the  murderers  fresh  from  their 
deeds  of  blood,  absolved,  by  making  over  them  the  sign  of 
the  cross. 

The  celebrated  Jonathan  Edwards,  who  is  not  accustomed 
to  speak  without  good  authority,  says,  in  his  History  of  Re- 
demption— "  It  is  reckoned  that  about  this  time,  within  thirty 
years,  there  were  martyred  in  this  kingdom,  (France,)  for 
the  Protestant  religion,  39  princes,  148  counts,  234  barons, 
147,518  gentlemen,  and  760,000  of  the  common  people;" 
and  yet,  as  I  have  said,  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew 
called  forth  no  relenting — on  the  contrary,  it  filled  Rome  with 
joy.  It  was  stated  in  the  beginning  of  last  century,  that  there 
were  in  the  great  hall  of  the  palace  of  the  Vatican,  where 
the  Pope  gives  audience  to  ambassadors,  several  pieces  of 
painting  representing  the  Parisian  massacre ;  and  one  in 
which  the  news  of  Admiral  Coligny's  death  is  represented 
as  being  brought  to  the  French  king,  with  these  words,  ''''Rex 

*  The  persecutors  in  their  work  of  slaughter,  frequently  and  blas- 
phemously mimicked  the  Psalm-singing  of  the  Protestants,  which 
must  have  made  the  scene  more  horrible.  They  seem  to  have  borne 
a  peculiar  hatred  to  the  singing  of  the  praises  of  God,  whether  in  pub- 
lic or  in  private.  The  practice  we  believe,  was  pecular  to  the  Pro- 
testant Church.  The  Popish  Church  executes  this,  and  many  other 
parts  of  worship,  by  the  proxy  of  the  priest. 


44 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


CoHgnii  necem  probat.^'  The  Pope  ordered  triumphant  me- 
dals to  be  struck,  having  on  one  side  the  Pope's  head,  with 
this  inscription,  "  Gregoriits  XIIL,  Pont.  Max.,  Jin.  7." 
on  the  other  side  a  destroying  angel,  with  a  cross  held  up  in 
one  hand,  and  a  sword  in  the  other,  killing  the  Protestants, 
with  these  words,  *'  Hugonotorum  strages,  1582," — the 
slaughter  of  the  Hugonots.*  But  in  spite  of  all  these  things, 
there  is  verily  a  Judge — a  moral  government — even  in  this 
fallen  world.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  all  the  chief  per- 
sons who  were  engaged  in  the  Parisian  massacre,  at  least 
very  many  of  them,  fell  at  Rochelle,  in  the  course  of  two 
brief  years  afterwards;  so  quickly  does  punishment  succeed 
sin.  Clarke,  in  his  history  of  the  early  Protestant  persecu- 
tions in  France,  which  extends  to  thirty  folio  pages,  states, 
that  the  Duke  d'  Aumale  and  Cosseins,  who  first  entered  the 
chamber  of  Coligny  on  the  errand  of  assassination,  three 
masters  of  the  camp,  not  a  few  great  lords  and  gentlemen, 
above  sixty  captains,  and  as  many  lieutenants  and  ensigns, 
and  not  less  than  twenty  thousand  common  soldiers  were  all 
slain  at  Rochelle,  or  died  of  their  wounds.  And  to  crown 
the  whole,  Charles  IX.,  the  wretched  king — the  instrument 
of  the  crime — died  at  twenty-four  years  of  age,  of  a  strange 
disease,  which  may  be  said  ever  to  have  wrapt  him  in  blood; 
and  all  in  the  short  space  of  three  years  after  the  massacre. 
The  form  of  his  own  suffering  was  surely  intended  to  re- 
mind him  of  the  sin  with  which  he  was  chargeable,  in  in- 
flicting sufferings,  even  unto  death,  upon  others. 

Many  Christian  men  imagine  that  persecution  must  al- 
ways render  good  service  to  the  Church  of  Christ;  that  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  must  always  prove  the  seed  of  the 
Church.  But  various  sad  cases,  and  this  among  others,  show 

*  Mission.  Voyage  d*  Italic^  p.  32. — When  our  great  Reformer, 
John  Knox,  drew  near  his  end,  the  tidings  of  St.  Bartholomew  were 
brought  to  him.  It  is  said  that  they  sunk  him  much.  In  a  spirit  not 
uncommon  among  the  good  men  of  his  day,  he  uttered  a  declaration 
which  was  afterwards  remarkably  fulfilled.  "  Sentence,"  sajs  he,  "  is 
pronounced,  in  Scotland,  against  that  murderer,  the  King  of  France, 
and  God's  vengeance  shall  never  depart  from  his  house;  but  his  name 
shall  remain  an  execration  to  posterity ;  and  none  that  shall  come  of 
his  loins  shall  enjoy  that  kingdom  in  peace  and  quietness,  unless  re- 
pentance prevent  God's  judgment."  This  was  spoken  in  a  part  of 
the  Tolbooth  Church,  fitted  up  in  Knox's  old  age,  for  a  hundred  peo- 
ple, to  whom  he  preached.  All  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh  spoke 
largely  on  the  subject,  so  that  the  French  Ambassador  complained, 
but  inefFectually. 


OP    FRANCE.  45 

that  the  experience  is  not  universal.  The  Protestantism  of 
France  was  deeply  and  permanently  injured  by  the  extermi- 
nating persecution  to  which  it  was  subjected;  and  so  did  it 
fare  with  the  early  Protestantism  of  Italy  and  of  Spain;  with 
Poland,  Bohemia,  and  Hungary.  "  Multitudes,"  says  Quick, 
"  were  frighted  out  of  their  native  land,  and  others  were 
frighted  out  of  their  religion.  In  such  a  dreadful  hurricane 
as  that  was,  no  wonder  if  some  leaves,  unripe  fruit,  and  rot- 
ten, withered  branches,  fell  to  the  earth  and  were  lost  irre- 
vocably." The  leading  Protestants,  in  point  of  rank  and 
political  influence,  ^vere  destroyed,  and  so  the  body  of  the 
people  were  left  the  more  exposed  to  the  violence  of  their 
enemies.  Unlike  the  Protestants  of  Scotland,  those  of  France 
never,  even  in  their  greatest  strength,  rose  to  such  numbers 
as  to  divide  the  population  of  the  country  into  any  thing  like 
equal  parts,  nor  to  acquire  such  power  as  seriously  to  affect 
the  movements  of  the  ruling  party.  Government  was  al- 
ways in  the  hands  of  Popery,  and  almost  always  hostile ; 
and  so  the  suflering  was  great,  and  apparently  without  end. 
For  six  years  after  the  massacre,  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Protestant  Church  was  discontinu- 
ed. It  was  not  safe  to  meet;  and  when,  in  1578,  the  Synod 
did  assemble  at  St.  Foy,  no  special  notice  was  taken  of  the 
recent  persecution.  The  only  allusion  is  to  be  found  in  the 
appointment  of  a  general  fast,  in  the  course  of  which  it  is 
said,  "  Forasmuch  as  the  times  are  very  calamitous,  and  that 
our  poor  churches  are  daily  menaced  with  many  and  sore 
tribulations,  and  that  sins  and  vices  are  rising  up  and  growing 
in  upon  us  in  a  most  fearful  manner,  a  general  day  of  prayer 
and  fasting  shall  be  published,  that  our  people  may  humble 
themselves  before  the  Lord."  While  the  brave  and  heroic 
manner  in  which  the  Protestant  Church  stood  out  the  savage 
persecution  to  which  we  have  referred,  proves  how  enlight- 
ened and  sincere  was  the  profession  of  faith  which  her  mem- 
bers generally  maintained,  the  fearful  increase  of  wicked- 
ness, of  which  the  fast  appointment  speaks,  was  doubtless 
the  fruit  of  the  persecution.  When  the  Protestants  were 
reduced  in  number  and  discouraged  in  spirit — when  apostasy 
deteriorated  the  character  of  many  of  their  friends,  and  ene- 
mies were  emboldened  to  act  as  they  pleased,  and  to  triumph 
in  cruelty,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  crime  broke  out  in  fresh 
virulence,  and  that  the  country  was  marked  with  the  presence 
of  an  angry  God.  Nothing  very  remarkable  occurred  in  the 
history  of  the  Protestant  Church  till  1598,  or  twenty-six 


46  TROTESTANT   CHURCH 

years  after  the  fearful  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  During 
all  that  protracted  period,  the  Protestants  might  be  said  to  be 
an  oppressed  people — any  Uberties  which  they  enjoyed  were 
by  mere  sufferance,  and  were  ever  liable  to  be,  nay,  were 
frequently  invaded.  The  most  arbitrary  and  vmreasonable 
restrictions  were  imposed  upon  their  meetings  for  divine 
worship :  still  they  maintained  their  ground.  For  several 
years  after  the  massacre,  the  diminution  of  their  numbers 
was  not  very  serious,  though  their  spirit  may  have  declined. 
By  a  singular  providence  of  God,  the  ministers  were  spared 
from  the  destruction  of  the  persecution,  as  if  reserved  for 
another  harvest,  and  this  tended  to  keep  the  people  together. 
A  new  and  greatly  improved  edition  of  the  Protestant  ver- 
sion of  the  Scriptures,  revised  by  the  College  of  Pastors  and 
Professors  of  the  Reformed  Church  at  Geneva,  of  whom 
Beza  was  one,  was  published  at  this  time,  and,  under  the 
divine  blessing,  exerted  a  favourable  influence  in  maintaining 
and  diffusing  a  knowledge  of  the  truth.  But  other  influences 
were  in  operation,  which  were  destined  to  affect  the  Protes- 
tant Church  most  perniciously.  Before  considering  these, 
we  shall  quote  a  few  facts  and  circumstances  from  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  National  Synods,  or  General  Assemblies  of 
the  Church,  which  were  held  from  the  period  of  the  massa- 
cre, in  1572,  till  the  year  1598.  These  assemblies  were  only 
six  in  number  in  a  course  of  twenty-six  years;  but  they 
serve  to  illustrate  the  character  of  the  Church,  and  frequent- 
ly present  her  in  an  interesting  light.  1  need  scarcely  say 
that  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  was  a  thoroughly 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Well  aware  that,  under  God,  a  chief  share  of  the  pros- 
perity of  the  Church  is  ever  dependent  upon  the  character 
of  her  ministers,  the  Protestants  of  France,  with  great  wis- 
dom, continued  to  devote  much  of  their  attention  to  the 
qualifications  and  faithfulness  of  their  religious  teachers. 
There  is  no  subject  which  is  more  frequently  or  earnestly 
pressed  upon  individuals  and  churches,  than  the  necessity  of 
educating  young  men  for  the  ministry:  the  poverty  and 
danger  which  were  associated  with  the  profession,  the  de- 
cline of  the  Church,  and  the  temptation  of  other  pursuits, 
seem  to  have  rendered  such  calls  peculiarly  urgent. 

"  Whereas  divers  persons  do  solicit  this  National  Synod 
to  supply  the  congregations,  who  have  sent  them  hither,  with 
pastors,  they  are  all  answered,  that  at  present  we  are  utterly 
unable  to  gratify  them,  and  that,  therefore,  they  be  advised 


OF    FRANCE.  47 

to  set  up  propositions  of  the  word  of  God  [i.  e.  religious  ser- 
vices,) and  to  take  special  care  of  educating  hopeful  young 
men  in  learning,  in  the  arts,  languages,  and  divinity,  who 
may  hereafter  be  employed  in  the  sacred  ministry;  and  they 
are  most  humbly  to  petition  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send 
labourers  who  may  get  it  in." 

"  Because  there  is  every  where  a  visible  decay,  and  a 
great  want  of  ministers,  and  that  some  provision  may  be 
made  for  a  succession,  the  churches  shall  be  admonished  by 
our  brethren,  the  provincial  deputies,  that  such  as  are  rich, 
would  maintain  some  hopeful  scholars  at  the  universities, 
who,  being  educated  in  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  and 
other  good  learning,  may  be  fitted  for,  and  employed  in,  the 
sacred  ministry." 

"  The  deputies  of  every  province  are  charged  to  advise 
and  press  their  respective  provinces  to  look  carefully  to  the 
education  of  their  youth,  and  to  see  to  it,  that  schools  of 
learning  be  erected,  and  scholastic  exercises,  as  propositions 
and  declamations,  be  performed,  that  so  their  youth  may  be 
trained  up  and  prepared  for  the  service  of  God  and  of  his 
Church  in  the  holy  ministry. 

"  The  colloquies  shall  be  exceedingly  careful,  that  that  ar- 
ticle of  our  discipline,  concerning  the  maintenance  of  poor 
scholars  designed  for  the  ministry,  be  diligently  observed, 
and  that  they  make  report  of  it  unto  their  Provincial  Synods, 
and  tlie  Provincial  Synods  shall  give  account  thereof  unto 
the  National,  that  so  it  may  be  manifested  how  they  have 
performed  their  duty  in  this  particular.  But  forasmuch  as 
the  expedients  contained  in  that  article  are  not  sutRcient  for 
this  end,  and  the  Church's  stock  is  very  mean  and  low,  the 
further  consideration  hereof  is  referred  unto  the  General  As- 
sembly at  St.  Foy." 

Indeed,  so  zealous  was  the  Church  in  this  matter,  that  she 
resolved  to  apply  to  the  King  of  Navarre,  and  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  and  other  lords  professing  the  reformed  religion,  and 
to  beseech  them  to  contribute  liberally  "  towards  the  main- 
tenance of  poor  scholars  and  candidates  for  the  ministry;" 
"  and  all  churches  are  exhorted  to  press  this  duty  vigorous- 
ly upon  their  richer  and  more  substantial  members."  Nay, 
to  such  an  extent  did  the  zeal  of  the  Church  reach,  that  where 
a  Protestant  had  acquired  a  right  to  tithes,  he  was  entreated 
to  consecrate  them,  not  to  private  profit,  but  to  pious  uses, 
such  as  the  "  education  of  scholars,  who  be  the  seminary  of 
the  Church;"    and  he  was  censured  if  he  refused.     And 


48  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

when  a  suitably  qualified  minister  was  found,  he  was  not 
allowed  to  secularize  himself,  poor  as  his  outward  provision 
might  be.  It  was  expressly  decreed,  that  a  minister  should 
be  permitted  neither  to  exercise  the  office  of  a  judge,  nor  to 
practise  medicine.  And  as  soon  as  any  minister  departed 
from  the  faith,  or  refused  to  submit  to  the  discipline  of  the 
Church,  he  was  set  aside.  At  one  Synod,  we  read  of  seven 
ministers  being  deposed,  and  at  another  of  twenty-four;  the 
latter  number  included  "vagrants."  In  some  cases  there 
may  have  been  harshness,  but  the  circumstances  of  the  times 
required  zeal  and  determination,  and  it  is  not  easy  always  to 
separate  these  from  apparent  severity.  The  directions  ad- 
dressed to  ministers,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they  should 
preach  and  catechise,  are  good. 

"  Churches  shall  be  admonished  more  frequendy  to  prac- 
tise catechisings ;  and  ministers  shall  catechise  by  short, 
plain,  and  familiar  questions  and  answers,  accommodating 
themselves  to  the  weakness  and  capacity  of  their  people, 
without  enlargements,  or  handling  of  common  places.  xAnd 
such  churches  as  have  not  used  this  ordinance  of  catechising, 
are  hereby  exhorted  to  take  it  up.  Yea,  and  all  ministers 
shall  be  obliged  to  catechise  their  several  flocks  at  least  once 
or  twice  a-year,  and  shall  exhort  their  youth  to  submit  them- 
selves unto  it  conscientiously.  And  as  for  their  method  in 
preaching  and  handling  the  Scriptures,  the  said  ministers 
shall  be  exhorted  not  to  dwell  long  upon  a  text,  but  to  ex- 
pound and  treat  of  as  many  in  their  ministry  as  they  can, 
fleeing  all  ostentation  and  long  digressions,  and  heaping  up 
of  parallel  places  and  quotations ;  nor  ought  they  to  propound 
divers  senses  and  expositions,  nor  to  allege,  unless  very  rare- 
ly and  prudently,  any  passage  of  the  Fathers ;  nor  shall 
they  cite  profane  authors  and  stories,  that  so  the  Scriptures 
may  be  left  in  their  full  and  sovereign  authority." 

While  thus  in  earnest  to  render  the  labours  of  the  minis- 
try as  effective  and  interesting  as  possible,  the  Church  of 
France  did  not  undervalue  the  word  of  God.  She  hailed  the 
new  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  and  encouraged  the  bre- 
thren of  Geneva  to  continue  their  explanatory  observations; 
and  when  the  copies  became  rare  and  expensive,  she  rejoiced 
in  an  edition  being  brought  out  at  Rochelle,  and  entreated  the 
printer  that  he  have  "•  a  singular  care  that  it  be  done  most  ac- 
curately and  correcdy." 

"  Reserving  liberty  unto  the  Church  for  a  more  exact 
translation  of  the  Holy  Bible,  our  churches,  imitating  the 


OF    FRANCE,  49 

primitive  Church,  are  exhorted  to  receive  and  use,  in  their 
pubhc  assemblies,  the  last  translation,  revised  by  the  pastors 
and  professors  of  the  Church  of  Geneva.  And  thanks  shall 
be  presendy  given  unto  Monsieur  Rotan,  and  by  letters  unto 
our  brethren  of  Geneva,  who  have,  at  the  desire  of  our 
churches,  so  happily  undertaken  and  accomplished  this  great 
and  good  work:  and  they  be  further  entreated  to  amplify 
their  notes,  for  the  clearer  and  better  understanding  of  the 
remaining  dark  places  in  the  sacred  text:  and  ministers  in 
the  respective  provinces  are  ordered  to  collect  those  difficult 
passages,  and  to  make  report  of  them  unto  the  next  National 
Synod,  who  shall  consider  which  most  needs  explication." 

With  regard,  again,  to  the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath, 
another  of  the  great  means  of  spiritual  good,  we  find  that 
she  was  not  insensible.  Living  in  the  heart  of  a  Popish 
country,  where  the  Sabbath  is  uniformly  desecrated,  the 
Protestants  of  France  may  not  have  entertained  such  just 
and  scriptural  views  of  the  sanctity  of  that  day  as  other 
Protestants  who  are  placed  in  more  favourable  circumstances ; 
and,  indeed,  the  Continental  Reformers  generally,  seem  to 
have  put  the  argument  for  the  Sabbath  upon  low  and  insuf- 
ficient ground,  the  sad  consequences  of  which  are  felt  to  this 
day :  but  the  following  deliverance  indicates  serious  concern 
for  the  honour  of  the  Lord's  day. 

"  Whereas  public  notaries  in  divers  churches  keep  open 
doors  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  pass  all  manner  of  contracts 
and  transactions,  whereby  very  many  souls  are  taken  oflf,  to- 
gether with  themselves,  from  the  religious  sanctification  of 
the  Lord's  holy  Sabbath;  it  is  decreed  by  this  Synod,  that 
for  time  to  come  the  said  notaries  shall  pass  no  manner  of 
contracts  on  the  Lord's  day,  unless  it  be  contracts  of  mar- 
riage, last  wills  and  testaments,  articles  of  agreement  be- 
tween dissenting  parties,  and  the  amicable  terminating  of 
vexatious  lawsuits,  and  such  other  business  as  cannot  possi- 
bly be  delayed;  under  which  head  fall  in  matters  of  necessity 
and  mercy,  and  such  contracts  may  be  despatched  on  the 
most  holy  days,  provided  always  that  such  writings  be  not 
drawn  up,  nor  executed,  during  the  time  of  divine  service, 
and  of  the  public  worship  of  God ;  and  their  offices  shall  be 
shut,  if  possible,  whilst  they  be  thus  employed." 

Nor  was  the  concern  less  for  the  honour  of  God's  name. 

"  All  swearers,  who  in  passion  or  hastiness,  do  take  the 
name  of  God  in  vain,  and  others  who  aflfront  the  divine  Ma- 
jesty, shall  be  most  sharply  reproved ;  and  if,  after  one  or 

4 


50  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

two  admonitions,  they  do  not  refrain,  they  shall  be  suspend- 
ed the  Lord's  Table.  And  all  outrageous  blasphemers,  for- 
swearers,  and  such  like  persons,  shall  in  nowise  be  tolerated 
in  the  Church,  but  upon  the  first  offence  shall  be  punished 
-with  suspension  from  the  Lord's  Supper;  and  if  they  con- 
tinue in  their  ungodliness,  they  shall  be  publicly  excommu- 
nicated. And  this  Assembly  voted  unanimously,  that  when 
the  deputies  of  the  provinces  shall  be  returned  to  their  seve- 
ral respective  homes,  they  shall  cause  this  article  to  be  read 
in  all  the  churches,  in  the  audience  of  all  the  people." 

I  am  still  speaking  of  the  twenty-six  years  which  inter- 
vened between  1572  and  1598 — between  the  massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew,  and  the  granting  of  the  edict  of  Nantes. 

Though  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  Church  was  al- 
ready declining  in  her  attachment  to  sound  doctrine,  and 
that  light  views  of  truth  were  beginning  to  appear,  she  was 
still,  as  a  Church,  decided  in  her  opposition  to  heresy,  and 
to  the  corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  At  an  early  day, 
she  had  deputed  a  certain  number  of  her  ministers  to  protest 
against  the  Popish  Council  of  Trent,  and  to  declare  the  nul- 
lity of  all  its  decisions  and  decrees ;  and  at  a  later  day,  we 
meet  wulh  the  following  dehverance  : 

"  The  confession  being  read.  Monsieur  de  Beza  acquaint- 
ed the  assembly  of  those  heresies  dispersed  abroad  in  Po- 
land and  Transylvania,  by  divers  persons,  against  the  unity, 
divinity,  and  human  nature  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  revi- 
ving the  errors  of  ancient  heretics,  particularly  of  Samo- 
satenus,  Arius,  Photinus,  Nestorius,  Eutychus,  and  many 
others,  yea,  and  of  Mahomet  himself  also:  Whereupon  the 
Synod  unanimously  voted  their  detestation  of  all  those  abom- 
inable errors  and  heresies,  and  advised  all  pastors,  elders  and 
deacons,  and  generally  all  the  faithful,  vigorously  to  oppose 
their  admission  into  the  churches  of  France.  Information 
was  also  given  concerning  the  errors  of  Cozain,  by  the  min- 
ister of  Normandy ;  and  Monsier  de  Chandiese,  and  Monsieur 
de  L'Estang,  were  ordered  to  examine  the  table  of  the  said 
Cozain,  and  to  bring  in  a  report  of  it;  and  finally,  it  was 
condemned,  rejected,  and  detested;  and  the  English  bishops 
shall  be  desired  to  suppress  the  books  of  the  said  heretics, 
which  begin  to  be  in  vogue  among  them." 

Indeed,  it  was  common  to  censure  and  condemn  works 
containing  erroneous  sentiment,  and  to  guard  the  churches 
against  them;  and  a  correspondence  was  even  held  with 
foreign  churches,  where  the  heresy  proceeded  from  their 


OF   FRANCE.  51 

borders.  At  this  time,  too  (1594,)  the  Church,  as  a  body, 
was  sound  in  her  opposition  to  Popery.  One  of  the  minis- 
ters was  publicly  and  warmly  commended  for  his  answer  to 
part  of  Bellarmine's  Works,  the  great  Romish  champion; 
and  those  who  had  had  the  courage  to  hold  a  discussion  with 
the  advocates  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  were  honoured  with 
similar  approbation. 

f  The  present  Synod  return  thanks  unto  Monsieur  Berand, 
Rotan,  and  the  other  pastors,  for  their  pious  endeavours  in 
maintaining  the  truth  at  the  conference  held  at  Mants  with 
Monsieur  de  Perrote,  and  other  Popish  theologers,  and  rati- 
fies their  whole  proceeding,  and  that  offer  made  by  them  to 
continue  the  said  conference  at  the  pleasure  and  command- 
ment of  his  Majesty.  In  pursuance  whereof,  the  Synod 
hath  nominated  twenty  pastors,  out  of  whom  twelve  shall 
be  chosen  to  confer  with  those  of  the  Romish  Church,  that 
so  the  provinces  may  have  notice,  and  come  prepared  for  the 
said  conference." 

But  it  is  to  be  feared  the  seeds  of  compromise  and  degen- 
eracy were  now  in  the  course  of  being  sown.  Several  of 
the  Protestant  ministers,  disappointed  that  their  preferments 
were  so  poor,  proposed  a  reunion  of  the  two  Churches,  Po- 
pish and  Protestant;  and  agreed,  at  a  public  discussion,  to 
betray  the  cause  of  the  Reformed  into  the  hands  of  the  Ro- 
manists. It  would  seem  that  they  had  been  largely  bribed 
for  this  purpose.  Though  defeated  in  their  object  at  the  time 
by  the  superior  fidelity  of  their  brethren,  yet  the  very  fact 
that  such  an  idea  was  entertained,  and  deemed  practicable, 
showed  how  sadly  both  ministers  and  people  were  declining 
from  the  truth.  The  General  Assembly  of  1598  was  still 
clear  and  decided. 

"  Forasmuch  as  it  is  the  duty  of  all  the  faithful  heartily  to 
desire  the  reunion  of  all  the  subjects  of  this  kingdom  in  the 
unity  of  faith,  for  the  greater  glory  of  God,  the  salvation  of 
millions  of  souls,  and  the  singular  repose  of  the  common 
weal;  yet,  because  of  our  sins,  this  being  rather  a  matter  of 
our  prayers  than  of  our  hopes,  and  that,  under  this  pretext, 
divers  profane  persons  attempt  openly  to  blend  and  mingle 
both  religions,  all  ministers  shall  admonish  seriously  their 
flocks,  not  in  the  least  to  hearken  unto  any  such  motions,  it 
being  utterly  impossible  that  the  temple  of  God  should  hold 
communion  with  idols ;  as  also,  for  that  such  wretches  de- 
sign only  by  this  trick  to  debauch  easy  credulous  souls  from 
the  belief  and  profession  of  the  Gospel.     And  whoever  at- 


52 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


tempts  such  a  reconciliation,  either  by  word  or  writing,  shall 
be  most  severely  censured." 

We  are  happy  to  turn  to  a  more  pleasing  contemplation. 
While  some  persons  longed  for  a  union  between  Popery  and 
Protestantism,  the  Church  cultivated  a  Christian  union  with 
the  other  Protestant  Churches  of  Christendom.  Unity  of 
sentiment  and  affection,  as  well  as  a  sense  of  common  dan- 
ger, led  to  this;  and  it  were  well  that  it  were  more  common 
now.  The  Evangelical  Churches  of  the  present  day  are,  in 
this  respect,  a  great  contrast  to  the  Christian  Churches  of 
the  Reformation.  The  National  Synod,  held  in  1583,  high- 
ly approved  of  a  work  entitled  "  Harmonia  Confessionicm,"^ 
The  Harmony  of  the  Confessions  of  Faith,  "  as  being  most 
useful  and  needful  for  these  our  times,"  and  advised  that  it 
should  be  translated  into  French,  and  recommended  by  the 
Church.  A  few  years  earlier,  "  many  deputies,  from  sundry 
famous  reformed  Churches,  kingdoms,  and  provinces,  met 
at  Francfort,"  to  devise  measures  for  uniting  all  the  reformed 
Churches  of  Christendom  in  one  common  bond  of  union,  so 
as  to  terminate  all  their  differences.  The  Church  of  France 
rejoiced  in  this  prospect,  and  appointed  four  of  her  ablest 
ministers  to  appear  as  her  representatives.  AVith  regard  to 
the  Church  of  the  Netherlands,  she  highly  approved  of  their 
confession,  and  established  a  still  closer  union. 

"  This  assembly  doth  now  ordain,  that  as  often  as  the 
Synods  of  the  said  Low  Countries  shall  be  convened,  two 
provinces  of  this  kingdom  shall  be  obliged  to  send  their  de- 
puties; to  wit,  two  ministers  and  one  elder,  who  shall  be  ex- 
pressly sent  by  those  two  provinces  in  every  National  Synod, 
and  their  charges  borne  by  all  the  provinces  of  this  kingdom; 
and  for  this  present  approaching  Synod  of  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, the  provinces  of  the  Isle  of  France  and  Normandy  are 
appointed  to  send  their  deputies.  And  whereas  the  brethren, 
their  deputies,  have  tendered  unto  this  Synod  the  confession 
of  faith  and  body  of  Church  discipline  owned  and  embraced 
by  the  said  Churches  of  the  Low  Countries,  this  assembly 
having  humbly  and  heartily  blessed  God  for  that  sweet  union 
and  agreement,  both  in  doctrine  and  discipline,  between  the 
Churches  of  this  kingdom  and  of  that  republic,  did  judge 
meet  to  subscribe  them  both ;  and  it  did  also  request  those 
our  brethren,  their  deputies,  reciprocally  to  subscribe  our 
confession  of  faith  and  body  of  Church  discipline;  which, 
in  obedience  to  the  commission  given  them  by  their  princi- 
pals,  they  did  accordingly;  thereby   testifying  that  mutual 


OP    FRANCE. 


53 


harmony  and  concord  in  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  all 
the  Churches  in  both  nations.  Morever,  this  assembly,  hav- 
ing, to  its  great  grief,  understood  the  miserable  condition  of 
the  greater  part  of  the  Churches  in  the  Low  Countries,  how 
that  they  be  exceedingly  pestered  with  divers  sects  and  here- 
sies, as  of  David  George,  Anabaptists,  Libertines,  and  other 
errors  contrary  to  the  purity  of  God's  Word,  and  against 
which  they  cannot  use  those  remedies  that  are  most  desired; 
and  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  this  Synod  did  exceedingly  re- 
joice at  the  glad  tidings  of  their  care  and  diligence  in  oppos- 
ing and  resisting  those  anti-scriptural  heresies,  subversive  of 
divine  doctrine,  order,  and  discipline ;  and  it  did  most  earn- 
estly entreat  them  to  persevere  in  the  confutation  and  con- 
demnation of  them;  as  it  would  also,  on  its  part,  cordially 
join  with  them  in  so  doing,  and  would  give,  as  it  doth  now 
give,  an  unquestionable  proof  thereof,  by  subscribing  unto 
their  confession  of  faith  and  Church  discipline.  And  foras- 
much as  this  holy  union  and  concord  established  between  the 
Churches  of  France  and  those  of  the  Low  Countries,  seems 
necessarily  to  demand  their  mutual  loves  and  assistance,  this 
assembly  doth  judge  meet,  that  the  churches  of  both  the 
nations  shall  lend  and  borrow  their  ministers  reciprocally, 
according  as  their  respective  necessities  shall  require." 

It  were  easy  to  refer  to  many  other  pleasing  features  in  the 
character  of  the  Church  of  France  at  this  period  of  her  his- 
tory; such  as  her  loyalty  to  her  Sovereign,  and  anxiety  for 
his  salvation,  (Henry  IV.)  "  All  ministers  are  exhorted  to 
be  earnest  with  God  in  their  public  prayers  for  the  conver- 
sion, preservation  and  prosperity  of  the  King;  and  whenever 
they  be  at  court,  and  have  access  unto  his  Majesty,  they 
shall  do  their  duty  in  reminding  him  seriously  of  his  soul's 
salvation.  And  the  pastors  ordinarily  residing  at  court,  or 
in  its  neighbourhood,  shall  be  writ  unto  by  this  Synod,  more 
especially  to  put  this  our  counsel  into  practice." 

I  might  refer  to  her  spirit  of  love  for  the  suffering  and 
oppressed;  the  prayers  which  she  requested  for  the  Churches 
of  the  Low  Countries ;  her  missionary  spirit,  recommending 
to  the  brethren  of  Languedoc,  "  that  they  do  their  endeavour 
to  advance  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  much  as  in  them  lieth, 
not  only  at  home  in  their  own  Churches,  but,  if  it  may  be 
done  without  incommoding  their  own  flocks,  abroad  also." 
I  might  refer  to  her  zeal  in  the  cause  of  education;  her  anx- 
iety that  a  college  should  be  erected  in  each  of  the  pro- 
vinces ;  the  selection  of  the  city  of  Saumur  as  a  convenient 


54  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

place  for  one  of  them,  and  the  earnest  entreaty  addressed  to 
Governor  De  Plessis  to  aid  in  this  good  cause.  But  I  have 
space  only  to  allude  to  the  unfavourable  change  which  had 
already  taken  place  in  the  character  of  many  of  the  Protest- 
ants of  France,  and  which  became  deeper  and  more  serious 
as  we  approach  the  termination  of  the  period  of  which  we 
at  present  write. 

Pleasing  and  delightful  as  are  the  aspects  of  the  Church 
which  we  have  been  contemplating,  it  is  well  known  that 
the  forms  of  truth  may  remain  after  the  spirit  which  origin- 
ally established  them  has  in  some  measure  disappeared,  and 
that  fair  outward  features  in  a  Church,  as  a  body,  are  quite 
consistent  with  the  degeneracy  of  many  of  its  individual 
members.  The  dreadful  persecution  to  which  the  Church 
of  France  had  been  subjected  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  did 
not  improve  her  character,  or  call  forth  new  energies.  Though 
she  wonderfully  maintained  her  place  amid  the  adverse  cir- 
cumstances with  which  she  was  surrounded,  it  would  seem 
that  she  had  been  seriously  deteriorated.  The  perpetual  re- 
ference which  is  made  during  the  space  of  twenty-six  years, 
and  especially  towards  its  close,  to  the  difficulty  of  support- 
ing ministers,  and  the  destitution  and  desolation  of  many  of 
the  Churches,  as  well  as  the  various  expedients- — some  in- 
effectual— which  were  resorted  to  for  rearing  young  men  for 
the  ministry,  all  show  that  the  people  had  declined  in  their 
religious  character  and  diminished  in  number.  From  a  very 
early  period  we  read  of  churches  being  advised  to  succour 
their  ministers  in  their  necessities,  and  to  raise  maintenance 
for  them  and  their  families,  "  because  foreign  countries  have 
been  exceedingly  scandalised  at  the  neglect  and  ingratitude 
of  divers  churches  even  in  this  particular."  We  read  too, 
of  ministers  being  "  given  to  loan"  to  churches  for  six 
months.  But  it  is  at  a  later  day,  and  after  the  persecution, 
that  we  meet  with  the  most  frequent  and  affecting  notices  of 
this  kind.  Express  canons  were  passed  by  the  Synod  of 
1579,  to  prevent  the  ingratitude  of  many  churches  to  their 
ministers;  the  people  are  required  to  advance  a  provision  for 
the  pastor  for  so  many  months,  and  in  the  event  of  failure, 
the  minister  is  authorized  to  withdraw,  and  "  the  ungrateful 
church  shall  not  be  provided  with  any  other  pastor,  till  it 
shall  have  first  given  plenary  satisfaction  unto  its  former 
minister."  Notwithstanding  that  in  many  cases  two  or  more 
congregations  had  been  joined  together,  and  put  under  the 
charge  of  one  minister,  still  the  support  of  the  pastor  was 


OF    FRANCE. 


55 


becoming  more  and  more  precarious,  so  that  the  Synod  of 
Montauban,  in  1594,  was  constrained  to  pass  the  following 
resolution:  "Forasmuch  as  the  ingratitude  of  divers  per- 
sons, in  not  contributing  to  their  ministers'  subsistence,  is 
more  notorious  than  ever,  and  that  this  crying  sin  threatens 
the  churches  with  a  total  dissipation,  after  mature  delibera- 
tion, we  do  decree,  that  in  case  these  ungrateful  wretches, 
having  been  several  times  admonished  by  their  Consistory, 
(Kirk  Session,)  do  persist  obstinately  in  this  their  sin,  their 
Consistory  shall  deprive  them  of  communion  with  the  church 
in  the  Sacraments."  This  was  a  very  strong  step,  but  it 
proves  how  general  and  severe  was  the  evil  against  which  it 
was  directed,  and  also  how  seriously  the  numbers  and  the 
Christian  spirit  of  the  French  Protestants  were  declining.  A 
few  years  later,  in  1598,  we  read  of  "  the  great  desolations 
and  dispersions  of  the  churches  in  Provence;"  of  a  minister, 
"  by  reason  of  the  great  necessities  of  the  churches,"  being 
appointed  to  serve  two  churches;  and  of  another,  "  foras- 
much as  he  receiveth  a  very  small  salary  from  his  church, 
and  hath  been  many  years  in  their  service,"  being  granted 
license  to  teach  youth  for  his  better  maintenance — a  practice 
to  which  the  Church  was  strongly  averse.  But  what,  per- 
haps, is  still  more  impressive  and  affecting,  it  was  decreed, 
"  Because  of  the  present  distress  and  poverty  of  our  churches, 
and  till  such  time  as  the  Lord  shall  have  blessed  us  with 
greater  abilities,  it  is  ordained  by  this  present  Synod,  that 
the  National  Synod  shall  be  convened  only  once  in  three 
years,  unless  it  be  in  case  of  very  great  necessity,  as  of  here- 
sy and  schism."  So  that  such  was  the  poverty  of  the  minis- 
ters, arising  from  the  weakness  of  their  congregations,  and 
the  dechning  piety  of  their  people,  that  they  could  not  bear 
the  expense  of  carrying  on  the  business  of  the  Church  in 
the  way  which  their  consciences  judged  most  scriptural. 
After  all,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  the  character  and  strength 
of  the  French  Protestant  Church  should  have  been  seriously 
impaired.  Any  Church  which,  by  a  stroke,  loses  between 
sixty  and  seventy  thousand  of  its  best  members,  may  well  be 
Aveak,  the  more  especially  if  as  many,  or  a  greater  number, 
of  the  well  disposed  and  timid  are,  by  the  same  stroke,  driv- 
en into  apostasy.  What  Christian  Church,  at  the  present 
day,  could  stand  such  a  trial  unhurt?  How  many  congrega- 
tions would  be  broken  up  and  dispersed  altogether!  How 
many  of  the  strong  would  be  damped  and  discouraged  into 
weakness !     Accordingly,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  from 


56  PBOTESTA^T   CHTECH 

an  enumeration  which  was  made  of  the  French  Protestant 
Church  in  1598,  by  authority,  that  it  was  reduced  to  less 
than  one  thousand  congregations.  The  nuoiber  is  given  so 
low  as  seven  hundred  and  sixty.  "What  a  change  from  the 
two  thousand  of  Beza,  tweniy-six  years  before  I  Even  ad- 
mitting that  the  early  number  was  too  great,  and  the  latter 
too  small,  still  it  is  plain  that  a  very  serious  diminution  had 
taken  place  in  the  numbers  of  the  French  Protestants. 

And  it  was  not  persecution  alone  which  wrought  the 
change.  Henry  IV.,  had  been  educated  a  Protestant,  and 
had  been  much  indebted  to  the  Protestant  p^Tiy :  but  when 
the  prospect  of  the  throne  opened  before  him,  he  aban- 
doned the  faith  which  he  had  been  taught,  and  became  a  Ro- 
man Catholic.  As  Henry  does  not  seem  to  have  had  any 
rehgious  convictions,  but  was  a  mere  man  of  the  world  and 
of  expediency,  his  adoption  of  Popery,  when  he  came  to 
power,  may  be  regarded  as  a  proof  that  he  considered  the 
Romish  party  not  only  the  stronger  but  the  gaining  one,  and 
that  Protestantism  was  losing  ground.  And  this  quite  accords 
with  the  representation  which  has  been  given.  But  the  king 
was  not  alone  in  his  apostasy  (if  apostasy  it  can  be  called, 
where  there  was  no  previous  faith;)  multitudes  of  the  aristo- 
cracy went  along  with  him,  and  indeed  almost  the  whole 
Protestant  class  who  had  any  political  influence.  "While 
this  shows  the  power  of  royal  example  for  evil — and  why 
not  for  good  ?  it  proves  also  how  unsound  and  degenerate 
was  the  religion  of  a  large  body  of  Protestants.  Had  their 
religion  been  any  thing  better  than  a  name,  or  a  poor  politi- 
cal feeling,  they  would  not  have  desened  the  Protestant  cause. 
In  such  circumstances  as  these,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  the 
distinction  between  the  Reformed  Church  and  the  Church  of 
Rome  began  to  lose  its  disrincmess,  and  that  many  were 
ready,  especially  when  encouraged  by  bribes,  to  propose  a 
union  of  the  two  Churches.  All  these  influences  were  truly 
disastrous.  But  amid  these  mournful  symptoms,  we  must  not 
forget  that  a  far  larger  body  of  the  Protestants  remained  tirm 
and  steadfast,  and  that,  as  a  Church  they  continued  to  adorn 
the  doctrines  of  the  Cross. 

From  the  brief  review  which  has  been  made  of  an  interest- 
ing period  in  die  histon.-  of  the  French  Protestant  Church, 
one  may  learn  how  strong  is  the  tendency  to,  and  how  rapid 
the  operation  of  religious  decreneracy.  In  a  few  years  the 
Church  rose  to  greatness  and  fflory,  and  in  a  few  years  she 
declined  into  comparative  weakness.     So  it  was  in  primitive 


or     FEANCE. 


57 


times  with  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor;  the  vigour  of  their 
pietv  did  not  survive  the  death  of  the  Apostles,  and  so  ii  not 
unfrequently  happens  with  the  individual  Chrisiian.  His 
first  are  his  best  davs,  and  that  so  generally,  that  niany  good 
men  have  concluded  in  every  life  of  faiih  uhere  is  necessarily 
a  season  of  backsliding.  "V^'hat  the  more  immediate  causes 
of  this  may  be,  we  are  not  here  called  upon  to  state ;  but  one 
can  scarcely  fail  to  remark,  that  such  cases  strikingly  show 
the  amazing  depravity  of  human  nature  even  among  good 
men ;  the  necessity  of  the  continued  agency  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  the  spiritual  prosperity  of  individuals  and  of 
churches ;  and  the  sovereismty  of  the  Divine  dispensations 
towards  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer. 


PROTESTAXnSM  OF   THE  PEOVrN'CES  OF  EEARX  AND 
NAVARRE. 

While  I  have  spoken  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  as 
a  whole,  it  may  be  proper  to  record  a  few  things  more  par- 
ticularly of  the  provinces  of  Beam  and  Xevarre,  constituting 
at  that  time  a  distinct  kingdom.  These  provinces,  stretching 
along  the  range  of  the  Pyreneean  mountains,  had  early  le- 
ceived  the  light  of  the  Reformed  doctrine.  Indeed,  the  Al- 
pine fastnesses  of  the  South  of  France,  of  which  they  may 
be  said  to  form  a  part,  seem  to  have  been  the  asylum  where 
God  protected  and  nourished  his  suffering  saints  during  the 
darkest  and  bloodiest  reign  of  Antichrist.  This  was  the  wil- 
derness into  which  the  woman  was  driven  for  1260  years. 
Marsfiierite,  the  sister  of  Francis  I.,  became  by  marriage  the 
Queen  of  Navarre,  in  152T.  She  was.  according  to  her 
light,  a  devoted  Protestant ;  and  published  a  book  of  piety, 
which  was  afterwards  translated  by  Elizabeth,  Queen  of 
England,  entitled.  '-A  Godly  Meditation  of  the  Christian 
Soul."  About  the  time  of  her  ascending  the  throne,  a  fierce 
persecution  broke  out  in  Germany,  which  drove  many  Pro- 
testants to  her  kingdom  as  a  refuge — among  others  the  cele- 
brated Calvin,  then  scarcely  of  age  :  and  Marot.  the  translator 
of  the  Psalms  of  David  into  French  metre.  The  great  Re- 
former speaks  of  the  Queen:  and  higher  praise  could  not  be 
given  as  of  "  one  who  was  promoting  the  kingdom  of  God." 
She  left  an  only  daughter,  Jeanne  Dalbret,  who  ascended  the 
throne  in  1555,  and  proved  herself  a  most  able  and  zealous 


58  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

Protestant.  Her  court  was  repeatedly  the  asylum  of  the 
persecuted  Reformed,  who  flocked  thither  from  all  quarters ; 
the  most  eminent  of  their  number  being  glad  of  her  protection 
and  countenance.  She  was  the  mother  of  the  celebrated 
Henry  IV.,  and  when  eight  years  of  age,  conjured  him,  with 
the  affection  of  a  mother,  never  to  attend  mass,  assuring  him, 
that  if  he  did  so  she  would  disown  him  as  her  son.  How  it 
would  have  made  her  heart  bleed,  had  she  lived  to  behold 
his  apostasy;  and,  after  all  his  sacrifices,  to  know  the  un- 
happy end  to  which  his  life  was  brought  by  the  hand  of  a 
Popish  assassin,  whose  religion  he  had  adopted ! 

Great  was  the  rapidity  with  which  the  reformed  faith  ad- 
vanced in  Navarre  and  Beam.  In  1560,  when  the  French 
Protestant  Church  may  be  said  to  have  been  first  regularly 
organized,  the  population  of  the  former  was  nearly  divided 
between  the  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics;  so  that  a 
question  arose,  who  were  best  entitled  to  the  use  of  the  pa- 
rish churches.  Two  years  after,  when  the  aggressions  of 
the  Papists  stirred  up  the  Protestants  to  war,  a  minister  at 
one  town  offered  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  a  military  com- 
mander four  thousand  Protestant  soldiers,  and  also  to  sup- 
pgi^rt  them — a  plain  proof,  at  once,  of  the  numbers  and  re- 
spectability of  the  Protestant  population ;  and  yet,  not  many 
years  before,  this  was,  in  a  great  measure,  a  popish  country. 
In  1563,  the  queen,  in  the  course  of  a  very  able  letter  which 
she  wrote  to  a  popish  cousin,  a  cardinal,  in  defence  of  Pro- 
testantism, declared  that  the  adherents  to  the  Reformed 
Church  increased  in  number  daily.  Such  was  the  progress, 
that  the  churches  were  on  all  hands  supplied  with  Protestant 
pastors.  Two  hundred  and  thirty  monks  of  the  convent  of 
Orthez  were  superseded  by  Protestant  teachers.  Golden 
chalices,  and  the  other  apparatus  of  the  Romish  Church, 
were  publicly  sold,  and  the  proceeds  thrown  into  the  public 
exchequer;  and  such  was  the  unpopularity  of  the  Popish 
ecclesiastics,  that  they  needed  a  guard  to  protect  them  against 
insult.  In  various  considerable  towns  the  Protestants  formed 
the  chief  part  of  the  population.  In  twenty-seven  years 
from  the  commencement  of  the  queen's  reign,  not  less  than 
eighty  Protestant  churches  had  been  erected  in  the  province 
of  Beam — a  province  which  probably,  at  that  period,  did  not 
comprehend  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  souls.  How 
amazing,  then,  had  been  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  under  the  rich  outpouring  of  the  Spirit 
of  God.     At  the  same  time,  how  perfectly  accordant  was  this 


OF    FRANCE.  59 

with  the  experience  of  the  Church  of  God  in  other  quarters 
— in  Germany,  and  in  France  generally.  But  the  very  pro- 
gress of  the  Gospel  provoked;  and  as  the  people  came  to  be 
very  equally  divided,  and  the  court  of  Navarre  was  favourable 
to  the  Protestant  interest,  while  the  court  of  France  was  in- 
tensely Popish ;  so  it  was  easy  to  see,  that  collision  and 
broils,  terminating  in  civil  war,  must  ere  long  ensue.  This, 
accordingly,  was  the  case;  and  the  whole  reign  of  the  mo- 
ther of  Henry  IV.  might  be  said  to  be  chequered  with  peace 
and  war,  often  succeeding  each  other  at  very  short  intervals. 
There  was  a  perpetual  struggle,  and  the  fortunes  were  va- 
rious. Though  we  cannot  altogether  vindicate  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Protestants — though  sometimes  they  were  un- 
duly severe  in  their  retaliations,  yet,  generally  speaking, 
there  is  a  very  marked  contrast  between  them  and  their  op- 
ponents: the  proceedings  of  the  latter  were  usually  the  ag- 
gressive, and  they  were  tracked  with  the  deepest  blood-stains. 
At  Toulouse,  in  one  of  the  struggles,  three  thousand  five 
hundred  Protestants  were  most  cruelly  put  to  the  sword, 
who,  without  any  sacrifice  of  principle,  yea,  in  common  hu- 
manity, might  have  been  spared.  As  the  Popish  party  were 
strongly  supported  by  the  power  of  the  French  throne,  the 
queen  of  Navarre,  the  sovereign,  comparatively  speaking,  of 
a  very  limited  territory,  was  constrained  to  apply  for  aid  to 
the  queen  of  England.  To  the  honour  of  Elizabeth  let  it  be 
recorded,  that  she  promptly  sent  £50,000 — a  large  sum  in 
these  days — and  six  pieces  of  cannon.  On  a  second  appli- 
cation to  the  same  quarter,  the  success  was  similar.  What- 
ever might  be  the  imperfect  views,  or  the  serious  faults  of 
the  English  queen,  she  was,  at  least,  the  ready  friend  of  the 
Protestant  cause  in  foreign  lands  against  Popish  oppression; 
and  as  such,  her  services  should  never  be  spoken  of  without 
gratitude.  In  the  present  case  her  assistance  did  not  prove 
of  such  essential  use  as  could  have  been  desired ;  it  was, 
however,  important:  and  after  all,  it  was  to  a  foreigner  that 
the  queen  of  Navarre  was  indebted  for  the  deliverance  of 
her  kingdom.  Gabriel  Montgomery,  the  grandson  of  a 
Scotchman  who  had  settled  in  France,  undertook,  in  1569, 
the  rescue  of  the  town  of  Navarreins,  the  last  refuge  and 
stronghold  of  Protestantism.  There  were  but  400  soldiers 
within  its  walls.  Arrayed  against  them  were  12,000  Popish 
troops.  Montgomery,  with  3000  Protestants  under  his 
command,  repaired  to  the  walls,  and,  by  the  excellence  of 
his  management,  and  the  blessing  of  the  God  of  armies,  re- 


60 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


pelled  the  besiegers ;  so  that  the  unhappy  refugees,  after 
being  shut  up  for  seventy-seven  days,  and  undergoing  the 
severest  hardships,  were  at  once  and  completely  delivered. 
Looking  over  their  walls  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  Au- 
gust, there  was  no  enemy  to  be  seen.  In  that  religious  spi- 
rit in  which  they  contended,  they  devoted  the  day  to  public 
thanksgiving  to  the  God  of  heaven.  On  a  similar  occasion 
at  an  after  day,  they  partook  of  the  Supper  of  the  Lord, 
plainly  showing,  that  the  object  for  which  they  struggled  was 
not  political,  or  merely  patriotic,  but  decidedly  religious. 
The  character  of  their  commander  harmonized  with  such 
proceedings.  The  Scottish  soldier  seems  to  have  been  a  true 
Christian.  He  escaped  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
though  he  was  in  Paris  at  the  time.  By  an  almost  incredible 
exertion — the  continuous  ride  of  above  100  miles — he  reach- 
ed the  shore,  from  whence  he  sailed  to  the  hospitable  refuge 
of  England.  On  his  return,  however,  two  years  after,  he 
was  seized  in  Paris  by  the  Popish  party,  to  whom  he  was 
peculiarly  obnoxious,  and  basely  executed ;  but  no  cruelty 
could  take  from  him  the  glory,  that,  in  ten  weeks,  with  a 
small  body  of  troops,  he  reconquered  the  whole  province  of 
Lower  Navarre,  and  re-established  tlie  legitimate  authority — 
the  reign  of  the  Protestant  queen.  She  died  in  1572,  a  few 
months  before  the  St.  Bartholomew  massacre,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  her  son,  Henry  IV.  He,  in  process  of  time, 
succeeded  also  to  the  crown  of  France,  and  the  separate  and 
independent  kingdom  of  Navarre  ceased.  Though  Henry 
had  himself  been  shortly  before  preserved  from  the  massacre, 
yet,  forgetful  of  all  his  mother's  instructions,  and  his  obliga- 
tions to  his  Protestant  subjects,  and  of  what  he  owed  to  God, 
he  speedily  issued  an  ordinance  for  the  abrogation  of  their 
privileges,  and  the  re-establishment  of  Popery  in  the  ancient 
territory  of  Navarre.  Multitudes  of  refugees  fled  from  the 
Parisian  massacre  to  this  foreign  asylum.  But  Navarre  was 
no  longer  what  it  had  been.  A  large  body  of  Protestants 
remained,  but  their  protection  was  gone. 

Before  noticing  a  few  interesting  features  of  Christian 
character  which  appear  among  the  Protestants  of  Navarre, 
in  the  period  of  which  I  have  been  writing,  let  me  meet  an 
objection  which  is  often  preferred  against  our  Protestant 
brethren  of  France.  It  is  said  they  were  wrong  in  taking  up 
arms  in  defence  of  their  religion — that  this  was  the  cause  of 
their  ruin — and  that,  had  they  not  done  so,  they  would  have 
been  more  successful,  and  ultimately,  in  all  probability,  tri- 


OF    FEANCE.  61 

umphant.  It  is  very  easy  for  men,  coolly  sitting  in  their 
closets,  to  speculate  in  this  way.  Had  they  been  involved 
in  the  same  sufferings  and  perils,  there  is  every  likelihood 
they  would  themselves  have  acted  in  the  same  manner  with 
those  whom  they  condemn.  We  have  yet  to  learn  why  men 
may,  in  cases  of  dreadful  extremity,  take  up  arms  in  defence  of 
their  civil  liberty;  and  may  not  take  them  up  in  behalf  of 
their  far  dearer  interests,  the  gospel  of  Christ,  the  welfare  of 
their  souls,  and  salvation.  We  have  yet  to  learn  that  all  the 
proceedings  of  our  martyred  forefathers,  and  the  present  set- 
tlement of  the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  which  rose  out  of 
them,  were  wrong  and  sinful.  But,  in  point  of  fact,  nothing 
can  be  clearer  to  a  calm  and  pains-taking  student  of  French 
History,  than  that,  had  not  the  Protestants  betaken  themselves 
to  arms,  they  would  have  been  utterly  extinguished,  and  that 
at  a  very  early  period.  Their  petitions,  and  remonstrances, 
and  patience  were  amazing — surpassed  only  by  the  treachery 
and  violence  of  their  enemies.  It  may  be  safely  said,  that, 
so  far  from  the  armed  resistance  of  the  Protestants  being  the 
cause  of  their  overthrow,  it  was  only  the  stand  which  they 
were  enabled  to  make  in  the  field,  which  extorted  their  toler- 
ation in  any  form,  from  their  Popish  persecutors;  and  that, 
had  they  tamely  submitted  to  every  violation  of  their  rights, 
civil  and  religious,  speedily  the  reality  and  profession  of  the 
Protestant  faith  would  have  been  destroyed.  With  no  truth 
have  I  been  more  impressed  than  with  this,  in  exploring  the 
history  of  Navarre,  and  of  France  generally;  and  I  am  per- 
suaded, no  one  can  read  Mr.  Jamieson's  interesting  "  No- 
tices of  the  Reformation  in  the  southwest  provinces  of 
France" — (Seely,  London,  1839) — to  which  I  have  been 
indebted  for  the  preceding  facts,  without  arriving  at  the  same 
conclusion. 

And  now,  to  turn  for  a  litde  to  the  Christian  character  of 
the  Church  of  Navarre  and  Beam.  Its  doctrine  and  spirit, 
its  discipline  and  government,  were  all  of  the  same  kind  with 
those  of  the  Reformed  Church  generally.  After  the  Queen, 
through  God's  blessing  on  the  military  skill  and  prowess  of 
Montgomery,  had  been  restored  to  her  authority,  in  1 569,  she 
issued  an  ordinance,  embracing  seventeen  leading  heads,  which 
all  indicate,  at  once  hatred  to  Popery,  and  enlightened  views 
of  Protestant  doctrine  and  duty.  In  these  views,  it  cannot 
be  doubted,  that  the  Protestants  heartily  concurred.  Occa- 
sionally, some  of  the  regulations  may  savour  of  intolerance, 
but  this  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  on  the  part  of  those  who 


62  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

had  just  acquired  power,  after  smarting  under  oppression. 
We  select  one  or  two  ordinances: — 

"  The  effects  of  proper  Education  being  of  the  greatest 
importance,  none  shall  be  permitted  to  act  as  a  schoolmaster, 
unless  of  the  reformed  religion ;  and  every  one  who  would 
act  in  such  a  capacity,  must  be  examined  by  a  minister,  who 
will  judge  of  his  ability  and  other  qualifications  for  the  due 
performance  of  his  funciions." — Again, 

"All  matters  of  business  and  justice  shall  cease  on  the 
Sabbath-day,  unless  in  cases  of  necessity.  The  shops  and 
public  houses  shall  be  closed  during  the  time  of  divine  ser- 
vice, at  which  all  persons  ought  to  attend.  All  sports, 
usually  lawful,  are  interdicted  during  the  same  period." — 
Again, 

"  In  order  that  no  one  may  have  opportunities  of  wasting 
time  in  evil  ways,  all  illegal  games,  dances,  masquerades, 
impure  songs,  and  such  like  disorderly  proceedings,  are 
hereby  prohibited." 

In  a  more  enlarged  proclamation,  given  shortly  after,  it  is 
provided,  that  the  Sabbath-day  "  be  sanctified  by  Christian 
works,  and  the  suspension  of  all  employment,  either  servile 
or  vicious," — alluding  to  sports  and  public  festivities. 

In  regard  to  the  ArpoiNTMENT  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel, 
the  pastors  were  chosen  by  the  parishioners  of  each  place. 
The  ecclesiastical  council  or  presbytery,  or,  in  the  case  of 
private  right,  the  patron,  named  two  candidates  to  the  con- 
sistory, who  appointed  the  time  of  the  election  by  the  people 
of  the  vacant  benefice — the  qualifications  of  the  candidates 
having  been  previously  examined  and  proved.  The  ministers 
were  paid  by  the  council,  not  by  the  parishioners,  and  were 
excluded  from  all  civil  power.  Speaking  of  1579,  Mr.  Ja- 
mieson  states,  among  the  proofs  of  the  earnest  and  general 
impression  which  the  Reformed  doctrines  had  made  in  Beam, 
the  missionary  spirit  of  the  people.  The  Roman  Catho- 
lic historians  describe  the  Navarese  traders  to  Spain,  as  car- 
rying with  them,  across  the  Pyrenees,  "  a  dogmatical  spirit ;" 
in  other  words,  an  anxious  spirit  to  spread  the  Gospel,  which 
led  the  Spanish  Inquisitors  to  send  oflicers  to  the  frontiers,  to 
guard  the  religious  health  of  the  people.  Nor  were  they 
deficient  in  the  spirit  of  christian  sympathy.  In  the  reign 
of  Henry  IV.,  before  he  ascended  the  throne  of  France,  a 
persecution  was  set  on  foot,  or  threatened,  by  the  Popish 
King  of  Sardinia,  against  the  honoured  Protestant  Church  of 
Geneva.      Theodore  Beza  wrote  of  Daneau,  Professor  of 


OF    FRANCE. 


63 


Theology  at  Orthez,  in  Beam,  to  call  on  the  French  Protes- 
tants for 'aid,  to  "the  mother  of  the  pure  faith  and  asylum  of 
the  saints;"  and  so  warmly  did  they  respond  to  his  appeal, 
that  though  not  a  little  burdened  and  distracted  with  their  own 
wants  and  difficulties,  they  cheerfully  reimbursed  the  suffer- 
ing Genevese,  and  lent  both  men  and  pecuniary  assistance. 
Such  are  some  of  the  leading  facts  connected  with  the  Pro- 
testantism of  Beam  and  Navarre ;  and  surely  every  Chris- 
tian must  rejoice  in  them,  as  affording  fresh  confirmation  of 
the  power  and  free  grace  of  God,  and  bearing  out  the  testi- 
mony which  we  have  drawn  together,  regarding  the  Chris- 
tian character  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France. 


NOTICES   OF    THE    CONTEMPORANEOUS   HISTORY   OF 
THE  CHURCH  OF  SCOTLAND. 

The  reader  may  be  disposed  to  ask,  what  is  the  connection 
between  the  Church  of  France  and  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
that  I  should  propose  to  give  "  Contemporaneous  Notices" 
of  the  latter,  in  a  work  devoted  to  the  history  of  the  former. 
I  answer,  that  besides  the  diversity  of  God's  dispensations 
towards  two  Protestant  and  Presbyterian  Churches,  which 
will  become  apparent  on  the  comparison  of  their  history,  and 
which  may  suggest  important'reflections,  there  was,  especial- 
ly in  early  times,  a  great  degree  of  intercourse  between  Scot- 
land and  France,  which  renders  a  little  blending  of  their  his- 
tories desirable,  and  almost  essential  to  a  just  historical  view 
of  either.  It  may  not  be  generally  known,  but  it  is  an  in- 
teresting fact,  that  from  a  very  early  period  in  Scottish  his- 
tory, long  prior  to  the  Reformation,  the  names  of  various 
Scotsmen  are  to  be  found  among  the  Professors  in  the  Con- 
tinental Universities.  Whether  from  the  poverty  of  the  soil, 
or,  what  is  more  probable,  the  superior  mind  of  her  people, 
Scotland  even  then  gave  indication  of  the  same  diffusiveness 
as  regards  her  children,  for  which  she  has  been  so  remarkable 
in  after  ages.  Thus,  a  Dr.  Elphinston  was  Professor  of 
Laws  in  the  University  of  Paris,  in  1471,  and  afterwards  at 
Orleans.  He  was  a  native  of  Scodand  ;  and  after  remaining 
abroad  for  nine  years,  returned  and  obtained  an  appointment 
in  the  Popish  Church  of  Glasgow.  He  is  looked  up  to  as 
an  early  promoter  of  commerce  in  that  city.  At  the  period 
of  the  Reformation,  it  was  common  for  the  more  intelligent 


64  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

Scottish  gentry  to  send  their  sons  to  finish  their  education  on 
the  Continent.  France  was  then  eminent  for  law  and  lan- 
guages. Erskine  of  Dun,  one  of  the  early  Reformers,  spent 
part  of  his  time  on  the  Continent,  and  encouraged  a  learned 
Frenchman  to  setde  as  a  teacher  of  Greek  and  Latin  at  Mon- 
trose. Even  then,  Scodand  had  the  reputation,  in  Europe, 
of  being  a  learned  nation — learned,  as  compared  with  the 
wide-spread  ignorance  of  others.  There  can  be  litde  ques- 
tion, that  this  Scottish  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  the  inter- 
course with  learned  men  on  the  Continent  to  which  it  led, 
lent  an  important  influence  in  hastening  on  the  Reformation, 
and  in  making  it  so  decided  in  this  country  as  it  proved. 

In  the  destructive  pursuit  of  war,  as  well  as  the  peaceful 
pursuit  of  knowledge,  Scodand  was  connected  with  France. 
So  early  as  the  reign  of  Malcolm  III.,  she  sent  not  less  than 
two  thousand  men  to  the  aid  of  her  French  neighbour.  In- 
deed, so  frequent  and  large  were  these  warlike  contributions, 
that,  putting  them  altogether,  above  thirty  thousand  Scottish 
soldiers  were,  on  seven  occasions,  sent  to  fight  the  battles  of 
France.  Charles  VII.  of  that  country,  raised  a  military 
company,  called  the  Gens  de  armes  d'  Ecosse,  consisting  of 
one  hundred  horse  and  two  hundred  archers,  and  gave  them 
the  precedency  of  all  the  French  troops.  So  lately  as  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIV.  there  was  a  royal  regiment  of  Scotch- 
men in  France.  On  the  British  Parliament,  however,  con- 
sidering it  improper  that  so  large  a  body  of  their  countrymen 
should  be  in  the  service  of  a  foreign  power,  they  were  re- 
called; but  so  great  was  the  reputation  which  the  Scotch  na- 
tion had  acquired  in  France,  that  it  was  a  common  saying, 
"  Fidelle  comme  une  Ecossois."  When  the  military  tie  be- 
tween the  two  countries  was  so  strong,  we  may  believe  that 
others,  the  literary  and  the  mercantile,  would  be  strong  also. 
Nor  was  the  intercourse  confined  to  France.  Scotchmen, 
from  various  impulses,  were  scattered  over  the  Continent  of 
Europe.  Many  Scotch  names,  such  as  Bruce,  Douglas, 
Hamilton,  Ogilvie,  Stuart,  Weems,  Leslie,  the  names  of 
leading  families,  are  to  be  found  in  Germany,  Russia,  and 
Italy,  to  this  day.  Part  of  the  town  of  Dantzic  bears  the 
name  of  "  Litde  Scodand,"  so  numerous  were  its  Scotch  in- 
habitants. With  regard,  more  particularly,  to  the  ministers 
of  the  Protestant  Churches  of  the  two  countries,  it  is  well 
known,  that  not  a  few  Scotchmen,  and  these  leading  men, 
sojourned  for  a  time  in  France.  The  great  Reformer  Knox, 
when  in  exile,  preached  in  French  in  her  churches;  Mel- 


OF    FRANCE.  65 

ville  taught  in  her  colleges;  George  Buchanan  wrote  his 
Psalms  and  other  poems  in  the  same  country.  Boyd,  who 
had  studied  under  the  eminent  civil  lawyer,  Cajucius,  for 
four  years,  in  the  same  country,  became  a  Professor  at  Sau- 
mur.  In  1611,  he  was  joined  by  his  relative,  ZacharyBoyd, 
who  first  was  a  Regent  in  the  College,  then  a  French  Pro- 
testant minister;  and  when  his  congregation  was  dispersed 
by  war,  pastor  of  the  Barony  Parish,  Glasgow.  It  is  well 
known  that  Welch,  the  son-in-law  of  Knox,  when  banished 
from  his  charge  in  Scotland,  became  a  most  successful  min- 
ister of  the  Church  of  France :  and  Cameron,  a  native  of 
Glasgow,  and  afterwards  Principal  of  the  University,  was, 
in  the  first  instance,  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Saumur;  and 
was  so  highly  esteemed  by  the  learned  men  of  Europe,  that 
he  passed  among  them  by  the  name  of  "  Cameron  Ic  Grand," 
speaking  Greek  extempore  with  as  great  ease  as  the  scholars 
of  those  days  spoke  Latin.  Many  other  names  could  be 
mentioned;  but  let  these  suffice  to  show,  that  a  very  impor- 
tant connection  subsisted  between  Scodand  and  France  in 
early  times;  and  that,  therefore,  there  is  no  impropriety, 
when  treating  of  the  Church  of  the  one,  in  making  a  paral- 
lel reference  to  the  Church  of  the  other. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  any  thing  of  the  moral  and  reli- 
gious condition  of  Scotland,  prior  to  the  Reformation.  It 
was  deplorable  in  the  extreme.  Ignorance,  especially  igno- 
rance of  God's  Word,  was  paramount;  and  vice,  in  a  vast 
variety  of  forms,  was,  of  course,  corresponding.  When  al- 
most half  the  property  of  the  nation,  and  all  the  power,  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  patron  of  super- 
stition, and  idolatry,  and  licentiousness — when  even  in  Ro- 
man Catholic  countries  it  was  necessary  to  pass  the  law  of 
mort  7nain,  restraining  the  donations  of  devotees,  on  their 
death-bed,  to  the  Church,  lest  the  whole  property  of  the 
country  should  be  swallowed  up  by  ecclesiastics — we  may 
well  believe  that  the  degradation  of  the  Scottish  nation,  which 
was  eminently  Popish,  in  its  submission,  was  complete.  I 
find  that  there  were  connected  with  the  Cathedral  of  Glas- 
gow alone,  eighteen  baronies  of  land,  in  nine  counties,  and 
two  hundred  and  forty  parishes,  besides  an  immense  estate 
in  Cumberland;  and  that  there  were  either  thirty-two  or 
thirty-nine  prebendaries,  and  as  many  parsonages,  connected 
with  the  same  church.  As  to  the  moral  character  of  the  peo- 
ple, it  may  be  estimated  from  what  is  recorded  by  Wodrow, 
in  his  MS.  collections  of  a  life  of  Gordon,  Bishop  of  Ork- 

5 


66  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

ney,  regarding  Shetland,  ten  years  after  the  Reformation  had 
begun,  viz.  "  that  all  vice  and  horrible  crimes  were  there 
committed,  so  that  six  hundred  persons  were  convicted  of 
fornication,  incest  and  aduhery."  It  is  true  that  there  were 
thirty-two  parishes  in  Shetland,  but  the  population  was  com- 
paratively small.  Hence,  the  moral  picture  is  appalling;  and 
if  this  wj)s  the  state  of  things  in  the  remote  and  quieter  dis- 
tricts, even  after  the  light  of  Reformation  had  begun  to  shine, 
what  must  have  been  the  general  condition  of  the  population 
in  the  more  populous  districts,  where  temptations  to  sin  were 
stronger,  before  the  restraint  of  the  reformed  doctrine  and 
discipline  had  beguo  to  be  felt.  Such  was  the  working  of 
Popery  with  all  her  power.  Surely  the  Church  of  Rome  had 
great  reason  to  be  ashamed.  But  no.  She  boasted  of  her 
excellence,  and  as  in  France,  so  here,  raised  up  the  most  de- 
termined opposition  to  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel.  The 
Scottish  martyrs,  down  to  1560,  were  few,  compared  with 
those  of  France  at  the  same  period;  but  they  were  noble 
men,  and  with  God's  blessing,  wrought  out  the  salvation  of 
their  country.  So  early  as  1527,  Patrick  Hamilton  was  burnt 
at  St.  Andrews  ;  and  shortly  after,  two  gentlemen  at  Glasgow, 
Jeremiah  Russell,  a  Grey  friar,  and  John  Kennedy,  of  Ayr- 
shire, a  young  man  not  eighteen  years  of  age,  shared  the 
same  fate.  But,  as  an  old  writer  remarks,  "  their  death  was 
the  very  death  of  Popery  in  Glasgow  and  the  live  adjacent 
shires,  in  so  far,  that  the  people  were  so  greatly  enraged,  that 
thereafter,  resolving  openly  to  profess  the  truth,  they  bound 
themselves  by  promise  and  oath,  which  they  subscribed,  that 
if  any  of  them  should  be  called  in  question  for  matters  of 
religion  at  any  time  thereafter,  they  would  take  up  arms; 
which  the  citizens  of  Glasgow  did."*  While  persecution 
was  powerfully  teaching  in  one  way,  faithful  men  were  not 
less  zealous  and  laborious  in  other  ways;  so  that,  before  the 
year  of  the  Reformation,  (1560,)  much  had  been  done  to  en- 
lighten and  concentrate  the  public  mind.  For  instance,  Wo- 
drow,  in  his  MS.  collections,  speaking,  in  1558,  of  Willock, 
who  had  been  a  Franciscan  friar,  and  received  ordination  in 
England,  whither  he  had  fled  for  safety  from  his  Popish  op- 
pressors, says,  "  Such  was  the  greedy  appetite  now  prevail- 
ing after  the  sincere  milk  of  the  Word,  and  the  unwearied 
diligence  of  Mr.  W^illock,  that  every  day  he  taught  and  ex- 
horted great  multitudes  of  nobilit}^  barons,  and  others,  who 

*  M'Ure's  History  of  Glasgow.     1737. 


OF    FRANCE.  67 

came  to  hear  him  in  his  room,  yea,  from  his  bed,  when  he 
was  unable  to  rise."  It  was  this  previous  preparation  of 
years  which  made  the  great  piibhc  change  so  decided  and 
harmonious  when  it  came.  With  regard  to  the  actual  Re- 
formation of  1560,  great  was  the  revival  of  true  religion 
which  it  indicated.  The  Spirit  of  God  was  poured  down, 
though  not  perhaps  in  so  visible  a  form  as  in  particular  places 
in  after  times;  yet  as  really  and  powerfully.  The  facts  des- 
criptive of  progress  are  inexplicable,  except  upon  the  sup- 
position of  a  wonderful  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  At  the 
first  General  Assembly,  which  met  in  Edinburgh  in  the  close 
of  1560,  there  were,  according  to  Row's  MS.  only  twelve 
ministers,  and  thirty  ruling  elders.  Other  persons,  forty-three 
in  number,  were  appointed;  some  to  read  the  word  in  the 
mother  tongue,  the  people  being  unable  to  read  themselves, 
and  some  to  exhort:  the  one  class  were  called  readers,  the 
other  exhorters.  The  whole  official  moral  force  might  be 
rated  therefore  at  eighty-five.  Wodrov/,  in  his  MS.  Life 
of  Spotswood,  says,  that  in  the  same  year  there  was  a  meet- 
ing of  the  well-affected  noblemen,  barons,  and  burghers, 
who  had  hitherto  been  carrying  oil  the  Reformation,  for 
the  purpose  of  fixing  the  few  ministers  above  spoken  of  in 
the  burgh  towns,  as  the  most  important  spheres.  Eight  of 
them  were  appointed  to  the  leading  towns;  the  remainder, 
with  the  addition  of  another,  making  five,  were  appointed 
superintendents  or  commissioners,  for  the  purpose  of  plant- 
ing the  desolate  rural  districts  as  pastors  could  be  procured. 
In  the  mean  time,  they  were  themselves  to  visit  them,  and 
stir  up  the  nobles  and  people  to  make  provision  for  the  com- 
ing teacher.  It  would  seem,  over  the  whole  wide,  and  peo- 
pled, and  fertile  country  of  the  Lothians,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  metropolis,  there  were  only  six  churches  available  for 
Protestant  worship,  and  they  were  not  all  supplied  with  pas- 
tors. Such  was  the  paucity  of  the  ministers,  that  the  Ge- 
neral Assembly  parcelled  them  out  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  for  a  few  months,  sometimes  for  half  a  year  at  a 
time.  No  commencement  of  a  National  Church  could  be 
more  humble.  And  what,  under  the  blessing  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  was  the  result  in  seven  short  years?  I  learn  from 
the  Register  of  the  ministers,  exhorters,  and  readers  of  1567, 
an  important  document  lately  printed,  like  some  of  the  \Yod- 
row  MS.  collections,  by  the  Maidand  Club,  though  not  pub- 
lished, and  therefore  inaccessible  to  the  general  reader, — I 
learn,  that  instead  of  12  ministers  there  were  252;  and  in- 


68 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


Stead  of  43  readers  and  exhorters,  there  were  467  readers 
and  154  exhorters,  making  in  all  873  moral  agents  labouring 
for  the  spiritual  good  of  the  people  of  Scotland,  instead  of 
65.  In  other  words,  there  was  almost  a  moral  agent  of  one 
description  or  another  for  every  parish  of  the  land  in  seven 
years.  Wliat  an  amazing  religious  achievement  was  this! 
How  strikingly  does  it  show  forth  the  power  and  grace  of 
the  Spirit  of  God!  The  written  record  of  His  actual  opera- 
tion on  the  hearts  of  multitudes,  if  it  ever  existed,  may  have 
disappeared;  but  so  long  as  these  dry  figures  remain,  they 
will  constitute  an  irrefragable  proof  of  the  greatness  of  the 
work  of  which  He  must  have  been  the  author.  It  adds  much 
to  the  force  and  interest  of  a  statement  so  precious  to  every 
Christian  heart,  to  notice,  that  the  moral  and  religious  ma- 
chinery was  not  limited  to  the  near  and  populous  districts  of 
the  country,  but  reached  the  thinly  peopled,  the  inaccessible, 
and  the  poor.  We  read  of  ministers,  exhorters,  and  readers 
in  Galloway,  Caithness,  Ross-shire,  Orkney,  SheUand.  Thus, 
to  29  parishes  in  Ross,  we  find  3  ministers,  5  exhorters,  13 
readers.  To  22  parishes  in  Orkney,  8  ministers,  2  exhort- 
ers, 15  readers.  In  16  parishes  in  Shetland,  2  ministers  and 
9  readers.  Of  course,  the  provision  is  very  inadequate,  and 
the  least  effective  is  the  most  ample;  but,  considering  the 
time  in  which,  and  the  country  to  which,  it  was  supplied, 
the  result  is  wonderful.  From  Wodrow's  account  of  Cars- 
well,  superintendent  or  commissioner  for  Argyle,  it  appears 
that  even  so  rough  and  wild  a  country  was  not  overlooked. 
In  1564,  the  commissioner  speaks  of  passing  to  Kintyre,  and 
then  to  the  Isles,  to  visit  the  churches,  implying  that  there 
were  churches  to  superintend.  The  reader  seems  to  have 
been  appointed  first,  then  the  exhorter,  and  lastly  the  minis- 
ter. The  cases  are  rare,  only  in  large  towns,  where  the  whole 
three  offices,  or  even  two,  were  in  operation  together.  Ge- 
nerally there  was  at  the  outset  but  one  of  them  in  one  place. 
The  fact,  that  nine  years  after,  that  is,  in  1576,  there  were 
in  289  parishes,  not  less  than  116  places  where  there  was 
both  a  minister  and  reader,  is  an  indication  of  great  and  con- 
tinued progress.  It  proves  that  faithful  men  were  multiply- 
ing, 'rhere  is,  too,  a  higher  proportion  of  ministers  at  the 
same  period — another  good  sign.  Seven  years  after  the  Re- 
formation, there  were  252  ministers  in  the  whole  Church. 
Sixteen  years  from  the  same  date,  there  were  151  ministers 
in  289  parishes,  showing,  that  more  than  half  the  parishes 
were  supplied  with  the  highest  religious  office — the  parochial 


OP    FRANCE. 


69 


minister — supposing  the  rest  of  the  Church  to  enjoy  the  same 
proportion.  My  authority  for  these  later  statements  is  the 
"  Book  of  the  Assignations  of  the  Ministers'  and  Readers' 
Stipend  for  1576,"  which  has,  like  the  preceding,  been  but 
lately  brought  to  light  by  the  Maitland  Club ;  and,  so  far  as 
I  know,  its  information  never  before  reckoned  in  the  same 
way.  It  may  be  mentioned,  that  ^616  to  26  Scots,  was  a 
common  stipend  for  a  Scripture  reader;  40  and  50  merks  a 
common  salary  for  an  exhorter;  and  100  and  120,  not  un- 
frequently  the  chief  support  of  the  minister  at  this  time. 
Row's  MSS.  state,  that,  at  every  Assembly,  the  number  of 
ministers  increased,  and  "  the  number  of  godly  professors 
grew  exceedingly."  The  Scripture  reader,  when  well  quali- 
fied, seems,  in  the  absence  of  the  minister,  to  have  adminis- 
tered the  sacraments  and  celebrated  marriage ;  and  both  he 
and  the  exhorter,  where  their  gifts  were  approved,  appear 
sometimes  to  have  been  admitted  to  the  ministry.  Indeed, 
the  Church,  with  great  wisdom,  did  not,  in  these  trying 
times,  demand,  on  the  part  of  the  ministers,  an  exact  and 
formal  curriculum  of  study.  She  was  glad  to  avail  herself 
of  their  services,  when  the  qualifications  were  such  as  to 
promise  usefulness.  Thus,  the  lirst  Protestant  minister  of 
the  West  Church  of  Edinburgh,  W.  Harlow,  originally  a 
tailor,  was  obliged  to  flee  to  England  for  safety.  Having 
obtained  deacon's  orders,  he  returned  in  1556,  four  years 
before  the  first  General  Assembly,  and  became  minister  of 
the  West  Kirk.  The  Church  was  too  much  animated  with  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  to  make  any  question  about  the  validity  of  his 
ordination.  William  Aird,  another  and  subsequent  minister  of 
the  same  charge,  seems  to  have  been  wonderfully  raised  up 
by  God  for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Till  twenty  years  of 
age,  he  was  an  operative  mason,  and  then  acquired  the  learn- 
ed languages  in  such  perfection,  as  to  be  as  familiar  with  He- 
brew as  his  mother  tongue.  Having  spent  a  few  years  at 
college,  and  his  eminent  qualifications  being  well  known,  he 
was  received  as  minister  in  1584.  I  conclude  the  notices 
descriptive  of  the  amazing  progress  which  the  Protestant 
faith  made  under  the  unwearied  prayers  and  labours  of  the 
early  Church,  with  the  following  remark  of  the  Regent,  in 
1573,  or  thirteen  years  after  the  organization  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  It  may  be  over-coloured,  as  he  had  an  object 
to  serve;  but  there  must  have  been  a  general  truth  in  the 
statement,  otherwise  it  would  have  been  inapplicable.  I  take 
it  from  Wodrow's  MS.  collections  of  the  Life  of  Boyd  of 


70  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

Trochrig.  Speaking  of  the  religious  change,  the  Regent 
says,  "  Seeing  the  most  part  of  the  canons,  monks,  and 
friars  icithin  this  realm,  have  made  profession  of  the  true 
religion,  it  is  thought  meet  that  it  be  enjoined  to  them  to 
serve  as  readers  at  the  places  where  they  shall  be  appointed." 
These  parties  in  the  Church  of  Rome  are  among  the  last  to 
move ;  and  yet,  in  thirteen  short  years,  it  can  be  said  that 
they  have  generally  abandoned  their  own  superstitious  idola- 
try, and  publicly  adopted  the  true  faith,  and  that  so  sincerely, 
that  they  may  be  employed  in  the  service  of  the  Protestant 
Church. 

The  ancient  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, drawn  up  in  the  space  of  four  days  by  the  General  As- 
sembly in  1560,  may  not  be  so  full  as  that  of  France,  but  it 
is  substantially  the  same  in  doctrine  and  spirit,  and  even  in 
style  there  is  a  considerable  resemblance.  The  high  ta- 
lent and  piety  of  those  who  prepared  these  documents,  the 
elevated  position  which  they  occupied — standing  at  the  head 
of  a  religious  movement  which  was  to  affect  unborn  genera- 
tions— and  their  familiarity  with  the  fine  writers  of  Greek 
and  Roman  antiquity  as  their  models,  seem  all  to  have  be- 
stowed upon  their  style  a  sublimity  and  greatness  which  we 
do  not  meet  with  in  the  writers  of  later  ages.  Nor  is  it  only 
in  doctrinal  sentiment  that  we  find  a  strong  resemblance  be- 
tween the  Protestant  Church  of  France  and  of  Scotland  ;  as 
they  were  the  same  in  government,  so  in  discipline  there  was 
a  remarkable  correspondence.  Not  only,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  there  much  intercourse  between  the  two  countries  at  that 
early  period — an  intercourse  from  which  Scotland  was  in 
some  respects  a  sufferer — but  both  drew  their  articles  of  doc- 
trine and  platform  of  discipline  from  the  word  of  God.  Hence 
their  resemblance.  It  appears  from  the  "  Book  of  the  Uni- 
versal Kirk,"  the  earliest  record  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
that  ministers,  under  the  severest  penalty,  were  required  to 
reside  beside  their  churches,  and  that  they  were  debarred 
from  holding  any  civil  office,  such  as  that  of  privy  counsel- 
lor, or  judge,  or  sheriff.  By  special  exception,  Mr.  Robert 
Pont,  a  minister  of  the  West  Church,  Edinburgh,  was  al- 
lowed by  the  General  Assembly  to  become  a  Senator  of  the 
College  of  Justice.  Even  a  plurality  of  ecclesiastical  ofHces 
was  repeatedly  and  earnestly  forbidden,  under  a  heavy  penal- 
ty— so  anxious  was  the  Church  for  the  full  and  efficient  dis- 
charge of  the  ministerial  ofBce.     Nor  was  she  behind  the 


OF    FRANCE, 


71 


Church  of  France  in  her  zeal  for  an  educated  ministry.  With 
all  her  fervour  there  was  no  fanaticism,  and  so  she  made  pro- 
vision for  the  education  of  poor  scholars  and  young  men  for 
the  ministry,  and  took  care  that  that  education  should  be 
thorough  and  comprehensive.    And  after  men  were  admitted 
to  the  ministry,  which  was  not  allowed  to  take  place  till  they 
were  twenty-five  years  of  age,  except  in  special  cases,  she 
made  various  regulations,  such  as  supplying  them  with  books, 
and  testing  their  proficiency  in  study,  and  appointing  regular 
discussions  on  some  point  in  the  Popish  controversy,  at  every 
meeting  of  Presbytery,  which  were  all  fitted  to  stir  up  the 
gifts  of  ministers,  and  to  enlarge  their  literary  and  theological 
acquirements.     1  may  mention   a  few  things  illustrative  of 
the  Christian  character  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  during  the 
period  in  the   history  of  the  Church  of  France  of  which  I 
have  been  writing.     The  "  Book  of  the  Universal  Kirk"  is 
a  chief  authority.     Conjoined  with  it,  are  facts  drawn  from 
the  West  Kirk  Records,  and  Wodrow's  MS.  Collections.  To 
refer  to  the  education  and  qualifications  of  ministers  of  the 
Gospel — the  General  Assembly  resolved,  in  1575,  that,  as 
the  leading  Scripture  commentators  are  written  in  Latin,  so 
none  should  be  admitted  to  the  ministry  unless  they  could 
read  that  language.     Nay,  it  is  required  they  be  able  to 
speak  "  congruous  Latin,"  unless  in  cases  where  Providence 
has  bestowed  singular  gifts  and  graces  for  the  edification  of 
his  Church.     In  that  event,  the  rule  may  be  dispensed  with. 
When  young  men  become  preachers,  they  were  not  released, 
in  point  of  study,  from  the  watchful  superintendence  and  in- 
struction of  the  Church.     A  controverted  part  of  Scripture 
was  appointed  to  them  by  the  presbytery  within  whose  bounds 
they  resided,  and  account  was  taken  of  their  progress  in  un- 
derstanding it,  from  time  to  time,  in  the  course  of  the  year. 
With  an  eye  to  their  acquiring  "  certain  maturity  and  solid- 
ness  in  the  Scripture  of  God,"  they  are  to  give  the  sum  and 
deduction  of  the  passage  as  a  whole,  the  meaning  of  the  diffi- 
cult parts,  and  a  collection  of  illustrative  passages,  for  a  con- 
firmation of  the  truth,  and  refutation  of  error.     Such  a  fami- 
liar acquaintance  with  the  learned  languages  as  these  studies 
implied,  could  not  be  had  without  a  full  knowledge  of  the 
classical  authors;  while  a  familiarity  with  them,  again,  must 
frequently  have  brought  the  mind  in  contact  with  false  prin- 
ciples.    The  Church  was  alive  to  this  danger;  and  so,  in 
1583,  professors  in  colleges,  regents,  and  teachers  of  gram- 
mar schools,  are  exhorted  to  point  out  what  is  unsound  in 


72  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

principle  in  the  profane  aiuhors  whose  works  they  used. 
Aristotle  is  particularly  named;  and  not  less  than  twenty 
statements  inconsistent  with  Revelation  are  singled  out,  for 
the  purpose  of  being  confuted.  This  indicated  a  beautiful 
union  of  the  love  of  learning  with  the  love  of  true  religion, 
and  anxiety  for  the  best  interests  of  youth. 

After  a  minister  was  appointed  to  a  parish,  large  were  the 
services  demanded  at  his  hands.  As  a  remedy  for  the  reviv- 
ing of  Popery,  it  was  proposed,  in  1586,  that  in  addition  to 
all  the  usual  duty  of  the  Lord's  day,  and  visiting  the  sick, 
and  administering  discipline,  &c.,  there  should  be  four  days 
of  the  week  when  there  should  be  public  preaching  in  the 
burgh  towns:  this  was  to  give  the  people  an  opportunity  for 
full  instruction.  Two  ministers  were  to  be  appointed  to  such 
parishes.  A  few  years  earlier,  all  ministers  are  earnestly 
exhorted  to  hold  afternoon  services  on  the  Lord's  day  for 
catechetical  instruction  in  the  rudiments  of  religion.  This 
seems  to  have  been  an  instrument  of  great  moral  power.  It 
had  been  neglected  especially  in  the  rural  districts,  and  so  it 
is  revived  anew,  and  strongly  enjoined.  So  early  as  1562, 
the  Church  resolved  that  the  communion  shall  be  dispensed 
four  times  a  year  in  the  burghs,  and  twice  a  year  in  the 
country  parishes;  and,  at  a  later  day,  a  catechism  for  the 
preparation  of  the  people  for  the  Lord's  Supper  is  expressly 
drawn  up  by  the  appointment,  and  under  the  sanction  of  the 
General  Assembly.  Mr.  John  Craig  was  the  author.  Every 
pastor  is  required  to  labour  with  his  flock  to  purchase  the 
book,  and  to  persuade  them  to  read  it  in  their  families,  that 
they  may  be  better  instructed.  It  is  also  recommended  that 
it  be  read  in  the  Doctor's  schools,  in  the  room  of  the  little 
catechism.  This  excellent  manual  has  recently  been  repub- 
lished, with  a  recommendatory  note  by  some  of  the  minis- 
ters of  Edinburgh.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  these  labori- 
ous services  were  required  and  expected  of  ministers,  when 
few  of  them  had  more  than  five  hundred  merks  of  a  yearly 
temporal  provision — when  very  many  of  them  had  a  con- 
tinual struggle  with  poverty — when  not  a  few  had  to  demit 
their  charge  from  its  pressure — and  when  violent  assaults 
upon  them,  even  to  the  shedding  of  blood,  were  not  unfre- 
quent,  from  the  hatred  of  their  enemies.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  record  any  thing  of  the  labours  of  die  Church  in  behalf  of 
education  and  the  poor.  These  were  generous  and  unweari- 
ed. Her  perpetual  aim  and  endeavour  were  to  obtain  part 
of  the  teind  or  tithe  for  the  support  of  both.     Her  visitation, 


OF    FRANCE.  73 

too,  of  such  schools  and  colleges  as  then  existed  was  labori- 
ous, and  ever  directed  to  their  improvement  and  efficiency. 
Nor  is  it  necessary  to  say  any  thing  of  her  opposition  to 
Popery,  and  that  in  a  variety  of  forms.  This  was  the  great 
contest  of  the  day;  and  though,  in  the  latter  period  of  which 
we  at  present  write,  there  was  some  rallying  in  behalf  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  owing  to  the  influence,  in  a  considerable 
degree,  of  Jesuits  and  priests  from  abroad,  the  south  of 
France,  and  other  quarters,  still,  the  General  Assembly's 
grounds  of  complaint,  in  1588 — such  as  of  their  being  twelve 
papists  in  Dumfries  and  its  neighbourhood ;  ten  in  Angus 
and  Mearns;  three  in  the  Lothians,  &c. — is  a  plain  proof 
how  successful  her  labours  against  Popery  had  been,  and 
how  lofty  was  the  standard  of  church  reformation  after 
which  she  aspired.  It  may  not  be  unsuitable  to  refer  to  her 
exertions  in  behalf  of  the  sanctification  of  the  Lord's  day: 
these  always  supply  a  good  test  of  Christian  character.  The 
Church  of  Rome  has  ever  proved  herself  the  great  enemy  of 
the  due  observance  of  the  Sabbath.  At  the  period  of  the 
Reformation  in  Scotland,  it  was  common  to  hold  fairs  and 
markets  on  the  Lord's  day.  Mills  and  saltpans  continued  in 
operation  as  on  other  days.  Li  time  of  harvest,  reapers  were 
hired,  and  corn  cut  down  and  gathered  in;  nay,  tragedies 
and  comedies,  drawn  from  the  canonical  Scriptures,  were 
frequently  exhibited  on  the  sacred  hours  of  the  Sabbath,  not 
excluding  even  Robin  Hood  and  the  King  of  May.  In  short, 
the  Lord's  day  was  treated  as  a  day  of  labour  and  amuse- 
ment, just  as  it  is  still  in  Popish  countries.  The  Protestant 
Church  of  Scotland  set  herself  vigorously  against  these  crying 
enormities ;  and,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  succeeded,  to 
a  great  extent,  in  putting  them  down.  She  blended  wisdom 
with  her  zeal.  In  1590,  ministers  were  called  upon  to  give 
in  the  names  of  those  within  their  bounds  who  had  most  in- 
fluence in  stopping  Sabbath  markets,  that  they  might  be  ap- 
plied to  to  use  that  influence  aright;  and  the  vassals  of  Lord 
Angus  are  entreated  to  give  the  tenants  under  them  a  day  of 
the  week  for  reaping  and  leading  their  corn,  so  that  they 
might  be  under  no  temptation  to  profane  the  day  of  God. 
This  latter  was  a  frequent  recommendation. 

With  regard,  again,  to  the  duties  of  Christian  union  and 
brotherly  love,  which,  we  have  seen,  marked  the  character 
of  the  early  Protestant  Church  of  France,  similar  indications 
are  not  wanting  in  the  Church  of  Scotland.  First  of  all,  she 
allowed  of  "  no  service,  friendship,  or  league  with  Papists, 


74 


PROTESTANT  CHURCH 


in  France,  Italy,  or  Spain,  or  other  countries,  by  common  or 
particular  consent."  Here  is  the  presence  of  decided  princi- 
ple. On  the  other  hand,  both  in  1566  and  1583,  she  took 
steps  indicative  of  enlightened  Christian  affection.  In  the 
one  case,  addressing  the  bishops  of  the  Church  of  England 
as  brethren,  and  beseeching  them  to  show  kindness  to  those 
pastors  in  that  country  who  differed  from  them  in  matters 
non-essential.  In  the  other,  entreating  the  king  to  charge 
his  ambassador,  going  into  England,  to  "labour  that  a  union 
and  bond  may  be  made  between  the  king — her  Majesty 
(Queen  Elizabeth,)  and  other  Christian  princes  and  realms 
professing  the  true  religion,  for  the  protection  and  defence  of 
the  true  Word  of  God,  and  its  professors,  against  the  perse- 
cution of  Papists  and  confederates,  joined  and  united  together 
by  the  bloody  league  of  Trent;  and  also,  that  her  Majesty 
will  disburden  their  brethren  of  England  of  the  yoke  of  cere- 
monies imposed  on  them,  against  the  liberty  of  the  Word." 
Some  ignorant  men  imagine,  that  the  ministers  of  the  early 
Church  of  Scotland  were  so  blinded  by  their  love  of  Pres- 
bytery, that  they  were  unwilling  to  recognise  the  Christian 
character  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  England;  but  here  is 
an  answer  to  all  such  misrepresentations,  and  a  sufficient 
defence  of  those  of  their  posterity  at  the  present  day,  who, 
amid  the  menacing  aspects  of  Popery,  are  disposed  to  join 
with  the  Church  of  England,  as  a  Protestant  Church,  against 
a  common  enemy,  while  they  hold  by  all  the  peculiarities  of 
Presbyterianism  as  sacredly  as  ever.  Nor  are  terms  of  friend- 
ship with  those  Christian  churches  which  maintain  the  head, 
all  for  which  the  Church  of  Scotland  contended  in  her  early 
days.  She  discovered  the  most  substantial  kindness  to  the 
members  of  foreign  churches.  While,  in  1573,  the  General 
Assembly  granted  a  pension  of  five  hundred  merks,  besides 
other  provision,  for  the  support  of  the  widow  and  three 
daughters  of  the  great  Reformer,  Knox,  and  fourteen  years 
after  called  upon  all  her  ministers  to  intercede  with  God  in 
behalf  of  Gilbert  Lamb  and  his  company,  detained  in  prison, 
in  a  city  of  Spain,  either  that  He  would  deliver,  or  grant 
them  "  a  final  perseverance  and  constancy  to  the  end,  in  the 
true  profession  of  the  Gospel."  While  the  CImrch,  I  say, 
manifested  so  tender  a  regard  for  her  own  children,  she  .was 
not  insensible  to  the  claims  of  the  members  of  other  Churches. 
A  standing  reason  in  almost  all  her  fast-day  appointments,  is 
the  oppression  of  the  Reformed  Churches.  In  1578,  she 
calls  upon  her  people  to  fasting  and  prayer,  for  the  bloody 


OF    FRANCE.  75 

councils  of  the  Romish  Beast  all  over  Europe;  and,  next 
year,  subjects  Captain  Anstruther  to  the  sharpest  discipline 
of  the  Church,  because,  when  in  France,  he  had  conformed 
to  Popery,  and  kept  the  King's  Gate  at  the  Louvre,  on  the 
night  of  the  butchery  and  massacre  of  Paris — doubtless  the 
night  of  St.  Bartholomew.  Though  the  offender  confessed 
his  sin,  and  stated,  that  he  had  passed  no  further  than  the  gate, 
so  that  he  had  no  actual  hand  in  the  crime,  yet  the  sin  is 
deemed  so  serious,  that  he  is  required  to  make  public  repen- 
tance in  the  parish  church  of  St.  Andrews,  after  the  form  of 
discipline  for  apostates.  This  shows,  surely,  the  tender 
sympathy  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  in  these  early  days,  for 
the  sufTering  Protestants  of  France.  And  the  same  feeling 
was  discovered  in  1586,  when  so  eminent  a  man  as  Andrew 
Melville  was  ordained  by  the  General  Assembly  to  write  a 
favourable  letter  to  the  French  ministers,  who  had  repaired 
to  this  country,  assuring  them  of  the  labours  of  the  Church 
with  the  king,  and  the  burgh  towns,  in  their  behalf;  and  two 
years  later,  when  all  ministers  are  exhorted  to  labour  earnest- 
ly with  their  parishioners,  and  inform  them  of  the  necessities 
of  the  brethren  of  France,  exiled  for  their  religion,  and  of  the 
obligation  to  support  them. 

Beautiful  as  are  these  aspects  of  character,  I  am  far  from 
ascribing  any  perfection  to  the  Church  of  Scotland,  even  in 
her  purest  days.  I  am  willing  to  grant  that  her  discipline, 
especially  towards  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  was 
unwarrantably  severe ;  but  what  was  the  school  from  which 
she  borrowed  any  intolerance  which  clung  to  her?  It  was  the 
Romish  school.  And  what,  in  most  cases,  was  the  state  of 
things  which  provoked  it  ?  It  was  the  claims  of  self-preser- 
vation— the  first  law  of  nature.  If  the  discipline  of  the 
Church  was  harsh  toward  the  Papist,  it  was  not  relaxed 
toward  her  own  members.  With  admirable  impartiality  she 
called  the  nobility  of  both  sexes,  and  the  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  and  office-bearers  of  the  Church,  to  the  strictest  ac- 
count; suspending,  deposing,  and  excommunicating,  where 
she  believed  that  Scripture  principles  and  laws  had  been  con- 
travened by  any  of  her  members,  no  matter  how  high  and 
influential.  The  gross  crimes  which  prevailed  in  many  quar- 
ters of  the  country,  as  appears  from  the  confessions  of  her 
fast-days,  do  not  argue  that  her  labours  were  unwise  or  in- 
efficient. There  was,  no  doubt,  much  vice  in  her  best  times, 
as  there  has  ever  been  in  the  best  times  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  in  all  countries.     But  it  was  not  in  consequence  of, 


76  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

but  in  spite  of  her  discipline,  that  sin  still  reared  its  head  so 
flagrantly.  It  is  possible  that  the  very  presence  of  so  much 
truth  and  righteousness  provoked  the  moral  evil,  and  made 
it  the  more  conspicious.  It  is  certain  that  the  civil  law  was 
so  weak  in  these  days,  and  its  execution  so  irregular,  that 
there  was  no  restraint  for  crimes,  which,  in  most  countries, 
the  arm  of  justice  is  quite  sufficient  to  repress;  and,  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  strong  remains  of  human  wicked- 
ness, it  cannot  be  questioned  that  a  vast  deal  of  evil  was  pre- 
vented or  corrected  by  the  f\iithful  preaching,  and  the  strict 
discipline,  of  the  early  Church  of  Scotland. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  had  access  to  an  impor- 
tant document  recently  discovered — the  Minute-book  of  the 
General  Session  of  Glasgow,  from  1583  to  1592.  It  fully 
confirms  all  the  views  which  have  been  unfolded  of  the 
character  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  the  previous  pages. 
I  may  add  a  few  supplementary  facts.  It  appears,  then,  that 
the  kirk-sessions  of  these  days  were  very  large;  at  a  period 
when  the  population  of  Glasgow  consisted  barely  of  three 
to  four  thousand,  there  were  forty-two  elders  and  twenty-four 
deacons,  and  these  consisted  of  the  leading  men  of  the  town, 
the  provost  and  magistrates,  the  chief  persons  at  the  Univer- 
sity, and  even  the  nobles  of  the  land.  This  must  have 
greatly  strengthened  the  hands  of  faithful  ministers.  Before 
persons  were  admissible  to  baptism  for  their  children,  or  to 
the  table  of  the  Lord  as  communicants,  they  were  required 
to  undergo  preparatory  examination.  Parents  were  expected 
to  know  the  commandments,  the  articles  of  faith,  and  the 
Lord's  prayer.  In  the  absence  of  this  knowledge,  others 
suitably  qualified  became  sponsors  for  their  children;  and 
such  were  the  numbers  who  flocked  to  the  Lord's  table,  that, 
for  their  better  accommodation,  the  Supper  was  dispensed 
two  or  even  three  Sabbath-days  in  succession.  A  regular 
catechetical  exercise  praparatory  to  it  was  held  during  the 
whole  year,  and  those  were  called  to  account  who  absented 
themselves  from  it,  even  though  they  had  already  communi- 
cated. This  served  to  keep  alive  the  knowledge  which  had 
been  received.  Immediately  before  the  dispensation,  a  meet- 
ing was  held  of  the  office-bearers  of  the  Church,  and  of  the 
"  honest  men"  of  the  parish,  to  go  over  the  roll,  and  ascer- 
tain whether  there  was  any  objection  known  to  the  life  or 
conversation  of  any  intending  communicant,  and  also  to 
aff*ord  an  opportunity  to  remove  grudges  and  compose  dif- 
ferences  where  they  existed,  so  that  all  might  sit  down  at 


OF   FRANCE. 


77 


the  table  of  the  Lord  as  the  members  of  a  united  family.  By 
a  singular  arrangement,  highly  indicative  of  the  extreme  zeal 
of  the  Church  for  the  universal  spread  of  sound  religious 
knowledge,  the  more  instructed  were  made  responsible  for 
the  ignorant  under  a  pecuniary  penalty;  each  in  this  way 
became  the  teacher  of  his  neighbour.  Much  to  the  honour 
of  the  Church,  she  was  the  warm  friend  of  the  poor,  at  that 
period  considerable  in  numbers,  owing  to  the  commencement 
of  the  breaking  up  of  the  feudal  system.  She  made  regular 
collections  for  them,  which  in  Glasgow  amounted  each  Sab- 
bath to  from  ^1  to  £3  Scots — a  generous  sum,  at  a  time 
when  the  best  sheep  in  the  market  could  be  bought  for  ten- 
pence.  In  the  West  Kirk  parish  of  Edinburgh — amounting 
at  the  time  to  two  thousand  souls — there  were  not  less  than 
eighty  poor  who  received  public  aid.  Nor  did  the  church 
of  Glasgow  limit  her  benevolence  to  her  own  poor;  she  felt 
for  the  impoverished  and  distressed  in  other  quarters,  and 
sent  many  donations.  Among  these  we  find  a  gift  to  the 
poor  people  of  Blantyre,  whose  corn  had  been  destroyed  by 
a  sudden  storm  of  hail.  Nor  did  she  forget  suffering  Pro- 
testant Churches  abroad.  In  1588,  we  meet  with  the  fol- 
lowing recorded  deliverance,  as  to  the  Reformed  Church  of 
France :  there  had  been  a  previous  and  similar  resolution  as 
to  Geneva; — "The  which  day  the  session  ordains  Mr. 
Patrick  Sharp,  Principal  of  the  College  of  Glasgow,  and  Mr. 
John  Cowper,  one  of  the  ministers  there,  to  go  to  the  Coun- 
cil on  Saturday  next,  and  to  propound  to  them  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  poor  brethren  of  France,  banished  to  England  for 
the  religious  cause,  and  to  crave  of  them  their  support  to  the 
said  poor  brethren."  They  further  ask  the  Council  to  ap- 
point six  members  of  session,  three  to  take  up  collections  in 
the  east  of  the  town,  and  three  in  the  west — the  whole  to  be 
done  with  all  possible  diligence. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FROM  1598  TO  1660. 

We  have  already  seen  the  remarkable  rise  and  progress  of 
the  Protestant  Church  of  France  in  the  course  of  twenty 
years,  beginning  with  1560;  and  the  serious  decline  which 


78  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

it  suffered  in  the  same  space  of  time,  in  the  next  twenty- 
years,  through  the  influence  of  persecution  and  the  apostasy 
of  leading  men,  particularly  Henry  IV.  We  now  pursue  the 
history  from  1598.  This  was  a  memorable  year,  being  the 
year  when  the  first  effectual  protection  was  granted  to  the 
Protestant  cause,  under  the  name  of  the  edict  of  Nantes. 
The  author  of  this  most  important  measure  was  Henry;  and 
apostate  though  he  was,  such  was  the  estimation  in  which  it 
was  held  by  the  poor  Protestants,  that  it  procured  for  his 
name  the  title  of"  great,"  and  for  his  memory  the  character 
of  "  blessed."  Indeed,  lie  may  be  said  to  have  been  the 
only  French  monarch  who  ever  yielded  cordial  justice  to  his 
Protestant  subjects;  and  well  he  might,  for  no  one  had  bet- 
ter opportunities  of  knowing  their  worth.  It  was  with  no 
small  difficulty  the  edict  was  passed,  such  was  the  force  of 
Popish  opposition;  and  the  very  provisions  of  the  measure 
show  how  dreadful  must  have  been  the  state  of  matters  be- 
fore. According  to  the  edict,  the  Protestants  were  to  have 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and  access  to  all  offices  of 
honour.  They  were  to  be  tried  by  judges  of  their  own  per- 
suasion. They  were  to  receive  so  many  cities  as  pledges  of 
security  or  cautionary  towns,  and  their  churches,  as  well  as 
their  garrisons,  were  to  be  upheld,  in  part  at  least,  from  the 
public  resources.  The  garrisons  were  to  receive  a  yearly 
sum  of  eighty  thousand  crowns.  But,  by  a  clause  in  the 
edict,  it  was  provided  that  the  Protestants  w^ere  to  have  places 
of  public  worship  only  within  certain  limits — none  within 
several  miles  of  the  capital — and  they  were  otherwise  sub- 
jected to  various  harassing  regulations,  all  in  deference  to  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Still,  the  edict  of  Nantes  was  a  mighty 
boon;  and  when  we  take  a  glance  at  the  persecutions,  issu- 
ing in  civil  wars,  with  which  the  country  had  been  oppressed 
for  many  years  before,  we  cannot  wonder  at  the  Protestant 

joy. 

So  early  as  the  year  1525,  in  the  very  dawn  of  the  Refor- 
mation, Popery  began  her  efforts  to  extinguish  the  truth,  by 
burning  its  professors  alive;  and  down  to  1557,  or  for  more 
than  thirty  long  years,  scarcely  one  was  permitted  to  pass 
WMthout  its  complement  of  victims.  Not  less  than  one  hun- 
dred and  seventeen  public  martyrdoms  were  spread  over  this 
period  of  time.  And  wdien  the  Protestants,  in  spite  of  per- 
secution, grew  in  numbers,  and  acquired  sufficient  strength, 
and  were,  moreover,  tempted  to  make  resistance  to  their  op- 
pressors, what  was  the  result?     In  the  course  of  the  forty 


OF    FRANCE.  79 

years  which  elapsed  from  the  meeting  of  the  first  General 
Assembly  of  the  Protestant  Church,  to  the  granting  of  the 
edict  of  Nantes,  there  were  not  less  than  nine  civil  wars, 
four  pitched  batdes,  three  hundred  engagements.  Several 
hundred  places  too,  were  besieged,  and  one  million  of  French 
subjects  lost  their  lives.  About  thirty  years  later,  it  was  es- 
timated that  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  milhons  of 
livres  had  been  expended  in  protracted  wars  and  persecutions, 
and  two  thousand  churches  and  as  many  monasteries  des- 
troyed. Infidels  would  fain  lay  the  blame  of  all  this  devas- 
tation on  religion.  But  not  to  plead  that  a  considerable  share 
of  it  was  owing  to  political  parties,  who  contended  for  the 
succession  to  the  throne,  often  disguising  their  ambition 
under  religious  pretexts,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the  ag- 
gressor was  not  the  true  religion  of  the  Scriptures,  but  Po- 
pery, its  great  caricature  and  corrupter,  and  that  Christianity 
is  not  responsible  for  its  misdeeds.  When  Protestants  re- 
sisted, it  was,  for  the  most  part,  simply  in  self-defence.  It 
is  not  the  Gospel  which  creates  discord,  or  war,  or  which 
leads  to  destruction.  It  is  the  depravity  of  man,  which  hates 
the  Gospel  with  such  thorough  hatred,  as  to  be  lighted  into 
a  flame  at  the  very  sight  of  it.  And  this  is  no  more  than 
what  our  Saviour  taught  his  Church  and  people  to  expect  in 
every  age,  when  he  said  that  his  coming  would  not  bring 
peace,  but  a  sword.  The  appalling  facts  to  which  I  have 
referred,  especially  when  conjoined  with  St.  Bartholomew's 
massacre  of  seventy  thousand  persons,  will  enable  us  to  un- 
derstand the  high  importance  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  imper- 
fect and  intolerant  as  that  measure  in  some  respects  was. 
Under  its  protection  the  ministers  who  had  been  dispersed  by 
persecution  were  recalled,  and  the  Protestant  Church  made 
decided  progress  for  many  years.  The  doctrine  was  sound, 
the  discipline  strict,  and  not  a  few  of  the  ministers  and  pro- 
fessors in  the  universities  were  eminent  men.  But  Henry 
was  assassinated  in  1610,  and  soon  the  Romish  principle, 
that  faith  is  not  to  be  kept  with  heretics,  came  to  be  exem- 
plified in  the  perpetual  encroachments  on,  and  violations  of 
the  edict.  Louis  XIII.,  son  of  Henry,  was  a  bigoted  Ro- 
man Catholic.  He  dedicated  himself,  and  kingdom,  and  all 
that  he  had,  to  the  Virgin  Mary.  In  1620,  he  established 
Popery  in  Beam,  and  drove  the  Protestants  to  arms,  refusing 
to  make  peace  with  them,  except  on  the  conditions  that  they 
would  demolish  their  garrisons  and  abandon  their  cautionary 
towns,  which  the  edict  recognised.     In   16:25  he  attacked 


80  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

Rochelle,  one  of  the  greatest  Protestant  strongholds,  and  af- 
ter a  siege  of  many  weeks,  carried  it  with  a  sacrifice  of  thir- 
teen thousand  citizens.  This,  in  a  great  degree,  broke  the 
power  of  the  Protestants,  and  the  evil  was  aggravated  by  the 
success  with  which  Richelieu,  the  celebrated  prime  minister 
of  Louis,  prevailed,  by  bribes,  upon  many  of  the  leading 
Protestant  chiefs,  to  desert  the  Protestant  cause.  Such  were 
Dukes  Sully,  Bouillon,  Lesdeguieres,  Rohan,  &c.  Amid  all 
these  discouraging  circumstances,  so  discouraging  as  to  drive 
some  eminent  men  to  England,  still  the  Protestants,  as  a 
body,  did  not  fall  off  in  numbers,  but  rather  gained  during 
the  course  of  this  reign.  The  king  dying  in  1043,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  the  well  known  Louis  XIV.,  in  whose 
hands  the  edict  continued  to  receive  the  most  cruel  infrac- 
tions, until,  in  1685,  it  was,  by  an  act  of  inexpressible  in- 
famy and  wickedness,  wholly  repealed.  We  need  scarcely 
add,  that  it  led  to  the  most  serious  disasters  to  France.  We 
do  not  mean  to  bring  the  history  of  the  Protestant  Church, 
at  present,  down  to  this  date,  but  shall  limit  ourselves  by  the 
year  1659,  the  year  in  which  the  last  General  Assembly  of 
the  Protestant  Church  was  permitted  to  be  held.  Our  sur- 
vey of  the  spirit  and  proceedings  of  the  Church  will  thus 
extend  over  sixty  years. 

To  give  the  reader  a  more  accurate  idea  of  the  Protestant 
Church  of  France  during  the  period  of  which  I  write,  it  will 
be  necessary,  without  entering  into  details,  to  be  a  little  more 
specific.  Starting  with  1598,  and  running  the  eye  along  the 
leading  events  of  an  unfavourable  character,  during  the  next 
sixty  years,  not  a  few  present  themselves  to  our  notice. 
Lnmediately  before  the  granting  of  the  protective  edict,  we 
have  a  remonstrance  to  the  king,  which  indicates  much  real, 
though  not  very  open,  persecution.  It  embraces  such  points 
as — interruption  of  public  worship — expulsion  from  licensed 
places — the  seizure  of  the  Bible  and  religious  books — the 
silencing  of  Psalmody  (the  use  of  which  seems  always  to 
have  been  peculiarly  hateful) — forcible  conformity — cases  of 
specific  violence — disgusting  outrages  on  the  dead.  These 
are  stated  as  undeniable  facts.  Even  in  regard  to  the  edict, 
the  concession  was  most  reluctant.  A  year  elapsed  between 
the  appending  of  the  royal  signature  and  its  formally  becom- 
ing the  law  of  the  land,  and  that,  too,  though  the  Jesuits  had 
been  expelled  the  kingdom  four  years  before,  on  the  attempt- 
ed assassination  of  Henry  by  one  of  their  number,  'i'he 
reign  of  Louis  XIII. ,  his  son  and  successor,  lasted  for  thirty- 


OF  FRANCE.  81 

three  years;  but  he  was  a  remarkably  weak  and  bigoted 
prince;  and  the  first  period  of  his  rule  was  injured,  besides, 
by  a  long  minority  and  regency,  and  contending  political 
factions.  It  was  only  a  strong  and  impartial  government 
which  could  have  protected  the  Protestants  against  their  op- 
pressors, and  have  rendered  the  provisions  of  the  edict  truly 
available;  and  this  was  wanting.  In  1620,  the  peculiar 
privileges  of  the  Church  of  Beam,  which  had  been  a  strong 
hold  of  the  reformed,  and  which  had  been  preserved  even 
after  the  union  of  the  kingdom  with  France,  were  over- 
thrown, the  property  confiscated,  and  the  Popish  Church 
restored.  The  very  places  of  Protestant  worship  were  sur- 
rendered to  the  Church  of  Rome;  and  the  mass,  after  fifty 
years  of  intermission,  was  celebrated  ancAv  in  the  town  of 
Navarreins.  Encouraged  by  the  success  of  his  arms  against 
Beam,  the  king,  next  year,  turned  his  forces  against  the  re- 
maining Protestant  towns,  one  by  one;  and  employed  the 
basest  treachery,  as  well  as  violence,  for  the  accomplishment 
of  his  own  purposes,  or  rather  those  of  the  party  by  whom  he 
was  governed.  It  is  plain  that  the  only  hope  of  preservation 
lay  in  resistance.  If  the  Protestants  submitted,  no  matter  what 
promises  had  been  made,  they  were  forthwith  trampled  upon 
and  destroyed,  just  as  if  they  had  opposed.  The  truces  which 
were  offered,  were  not  sincerely  intended  as  occasions  for 
bringing  about  a  reasonable  adjustment,  but  merely  a  breath- 
ing time,  to  allow  the  royal  and  Popish  party  to  strike  a 
more  fatal  blow.  Good  faith  with  heretics  seems  never  for 
one  moment  to  have  been  seriously  entertained.  The  sub- 
mission then,  which  some  now-a-days  would  have  recom- 
mended as  Christian  wisdom  and  duty,  would  have  been  ac- 
quiescence in  known  treachery,  certain  death  to  individuals, 
and  destruction  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  As  might  have  been 
expected,  there  were  various  risings,  and  considerable  resist- 
ance, on  the  part  of  the  poor  Protestants ;  so  much  so,  that 
Louis  may  be  said  to  have  disgraced  himself  with  repeated  re- 
ligious wars  against  his  own  subjects.  In  person,  he  appeared 
before  Montauban  with  ten  thousand  troops — a  plain  proof  of 
the  strength  of  the  Protestant  party.  'J'he  town  stood  out  a 
severe  siege,  animated  by  the  exhortations  of  the  Protestant 
ministers.  It  ultimately  gave  way,  after  having  proved  its 
courage.  The  effect  of  the  resistance  probably  was,  to  se- 
cure better  terms  of  peace  than  would  have  been  otherwise 
gained.  The  treachery  and  cruelty  of  the  Popish  party — 
often  promising,  that  if  the  gates  of  Protestant  towns  were 

6 


82  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

only  opened  to  them,  they  would  enter,  and  leave  them  un- 
injured; and  then,  no  sooner  than  they  had  entered,  pro- 
ceeding to  destroy  the  military  defences,  and  lay  the  inhabit- 
ants henceforward  open  to  aggression — these,  and  cases  of 
murder  in  cold  blood,  after  assurances  of  protection,  roused 
the  Protestant  indignation,  and,  in  some  cases,  led  to  dread- 
ful retaliation.  We  read  of  the  inhabitants  of  one  small 
town  rising  upon  a  royal  garrison,  and  cutting  off  four  hun- 
dred men  in  a  single  night;  but  these  were  very  rare  cases. 
Perhaps  there  was  not  another  instance  so  serious  through 
the  whole  period  which  we  are  reviewing.  The  Protestant 
struggle  was  eminently  one  of  self-defence,  not  of  aggression. 
Like  their  brethren  of  Scodand,  the  French  Reformers  some- 
times carried  standards  to  the  field,  and  the  inscription  indi- 
cated their  object.  In  ScoUand,  the  colours  bore,  "  For 
Christ's  Crown  and  Covenant."  In  France,  "  For  Christ 
and  his  Flock;"  or,  according  to  another  reading,  "For 
Christ  and  the  King."  Probably  both  were  used.  The 
loyalty  of  the  Protestants,  at  the  very  moment  of  their  deep- 
est sufferings,  was  equal  to  the  expression  of  so  generous  a 
sentiment.  Under  its  influence,  noble  were  the  struggles 
even  of  individuals.  In  1624,  it  is  related  that  a  royalist 
army  in  Languedoc,  of  five  thousand  men,  were  successfully 
repulsed  for  two  whole  days  together,  and  sustained  a  loss 
of  forty  men,  by  the  heroic  exertions  of  no  more  than  seven 
armed  Protestant  peasants — peasants  who  were  afterwards 
cut  to  pieces !  Christianity,  it  is  believed,  can  point  to  deeds 
of  as  noble  and  successful  daring  as  the  best  days  of  ancient 
Athens  or  Rome.  It  has  higher  motives  than  Thermopylae 
can  boast  of.  Besides  the  loss  of  the  strong  holds  and  cau- 
tionary towns,  a  very  serious  injury  to  the  Protestant  cause 
was,  the  apostasy  of  a  number  of  its  leading  and  wealthiest 
families.  Several  distinguished  generals,  too,  were  bribed, 
by  government  honours,  to  abandon  the  faith  of  their  fathers. 
During  such  a  struggle  for  existence  as  the  Reformed  Church 
was  sustaining,  this  was  peculiarly  adverse;  but  thus  it  is 
that  God  often  tries  the  faith  and  patience  of  his  saints.  At 
the  time  that  enemies  are  most  formidable,  he  allows  his 
people  to  be  wounded  by  what  is  more  unexpected  and  bit- 
ter— the  apostasy  of  friends — it  may  be  an  apostasy  prompt- 
ed by  cowardice  or  covetousness.  But,  in  Divine  mercy, 
these  cases  are  generally  balanced.  If  some  friends  fail  on 
the  trial,  others  come  forth  in  greater  glory.  Sully,  and 
Bouillon,  and  Les-Deguieres,  and,  at  an  after  day,  the  cele- 


OF    FRANCE. 


83 


brated  soldier,  Turenne,  may  act  the  part  of  apostates;  but 
Du  Plessis  appears  in  fresh  greatness.  When,  in  1621,  the 
royal  parly,  or  rather  the  king  himself,  offered  him  a  bribe 
to  give  them  possession  of  the  Protestant  town  of  Saumur, 
of  which  he  was  governor,  he  nobly  replied — "  Never  was 
I  assailed  by  a  bribe.  Had  I  loved  money,  I  might  have 
been  in  possession  of  millions;  and  as  for  dignities,  I  was 
always  more  solicitous  to  deserve  than  importunate  to  de- 
mand them.  Neither  in  honour,  nor  in  conscience,  can  I 
sell  the  liberty  and  security  of  others."  There  are  few,  if 
any,  finer  characters  to  be  met  with  in  history,  than  Phillipe 
de  Mornay  Du  Plessis.  He  is  a  noble  specimen  of  the  best 
of  the  French  Protestants — a  beautiful  combination  of  the 
statesman,  the  warrior,  the  Divine — a  happy  illustration  of 
how  consistent  personal  Christianity  is  with  the  exercise  of 
the  highest  talent,  and  the  discharge  of  the  most  onerous 
public  duties  of  the  highest  stations  in  life.  The  death  of 
such  a  man,  two  years  after  the  period  to  which  we  refer, 
and  in  such  critical  circumstances,  though  at  the  age  of  se- 
venty-four, must  have  proved  a  heavy  loss  to  the  Protestant 
Church. 

The  fears  which  the  Reformed  were  led  to  entertain  from 
the  overthrow  of  Protestant  institutions  in  Bearne,  and  the 
breaking  up  of  the  leading  fortified  towns  in  other  quarters, 
were  amply  and  fatally  confirmed  by  the  siege  of  Rochelle, 
in  1625.  This  was  the  citadel  of  French  Protestantism. 
Strong  in  situation,  and  strong  in  numbers,  it  was  the  last  re- 
fuge of  the  oppressed.  The  fate  of  the  whole  body  of  the 
Protestants  might  be  said  to  be  suspended  on  the  result. 
The  reader  is  already  aware  what  a  terrible  siege  it  under- 
went, and  how,  after  the  loss  of  thirteen  thousand  lives  by 
famine,  and  the  endurance  of  unutterable  suflferings,  protract- 
ed for  years,  it  was  compelled  to  surrender;  but  he  may  not 
be  aw^are  what  an  unworthy  part  the  British  king  bore  in  its 
history.  Charles  I.  now  sat  upon  the  English  throne;  un- 
like his  predecessors,  however,  he  was  no  friend  to  the  suf- 
fering Protestants.  Elizabeth  may  have  sent  troops  and 
money  to  them,  and  his  father,  James,  may  have  encouraged 
them  with  his  countenance,  but  Charles,  under  the  guise  of 
friendship,  was  an  enemy.  He  had  married  a  Popish  prin- 
cess. This  event  drew  no  small  favour  and  sympathy  for 
Popery  along  with  it.  Hence,  while  in  answer  to  the  appli- 
cations of  the  Rochellois,  he  wrote  that  "  he  would  never 


84  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

abandon  them,"  and  that  "he  would  employ  all  the  force  of 
his  kingdom  for  their  deliverance,"  with  the  characteristic 
treachery  of  Popery,  under  the  influence  of  which,  at  this 
time,  he  unhappily  laboured,  he  wrote  to  Pennington,  who 
had  the  command  of  his  fleet,  "  to  dispose  of  those  ships  as 
he  should  be  directed  by  the  French  king,  and  to  sink  or  fire 
such  as  should  refuse  to  obey  these  orders."  Louis  was  at 
this  time  fitting  out  a  fleet  at  Dieppe,  against  Rochelle.  The 
words  I  have  quoted  are  from  a  letter  signed  "  Charles  Rex," 
which  was  found  by  the  Parliament  among  Pennington's  pa- 
pers. We  need  not  wonder,  then,  that  one  of  the  Parlia- 
ment's solemn  articles  of  remonstrance  against  the  king  was, 
*'  His  sending  to  destroy  the  Protestants  of  Rochelle."  How 
disgraceful  and  wicked  was  this  proceeding  on  the  part  of 
the  British  king!  It  shows  how  injurious  was  the  influence 
of  Popery  upon  him;  and  the  observation  of  Hume,  the  infi- 
del historian,  on  the  event,  shows  what  has  frequenfly  been 
remarked — Hume's  Popish  leanings,  and  that  infidelity  is 
the  twin-sister  of  Popery.  With  the  servility  of  infidelity, 
and  its  hatred  to  the  Protestant  cause  and  to  constitutional 
freedom,  he  coolly  remarks — "  The  Hugonots  had  no  ground 
of  complaint  against  the  French  Court;"  so  that  the  infrac- 
tion of  solemn  treaties,  and  persecution  even  to  death,  are 
no  just  grounds  of  complaint!  How  would  Hume  have 
liked  this  doctrine  applied  to  himself  personally?  But, 
while  Popery  and  infidelity  act  so  base  a  part,  not  so  the 
poor  but  noble-minded  British  sailors  employed  in  the  expe- 
dition. They  are  Protestants,  and  they  feel  for  their  brother 
Protestants.  As  soon  as  they  arrived  at  Rochelle,  and  found 
out — for  it  had  been  concealed  from  them — that  they  were 
to  act  with  the  French  king  against  the  Rochellois,  they  de- 
clined the  service,  and  returned,  declaring,  "  that  they  would 
rather  be  hanged  at  home  for  disobedience,  than  either  desert 
their  ships  or  give  themselves  up  to  the  French,  like  slaves, 

TO  FIGHT  AGAINST  THEIR  OWN  RELIGION."     Only  OUC  gUnUCr 

remained  behind,  though  all  were  tempted  with  chains  of 
gold  as  a  bribe.  Next  year,  Charles  was  prevailed  upon  by 
the  Duke  of  Soubise,  the  commander  of  Rochelle,  who  came 
over  to  this  country,  to  declare  himself  the  protector  of  the 
distressed  Hugonots;  but  the  declaration,  if  not  intended  to 
deceive,  was  attended  with  no  substantial  result.  In  1627, 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham  was  sent  from  England,  with  one 
hundred  ships,  besides  seven  thousand  soldiers,  professedly 


OP    FRANCE. 


85 


with  the  intention  of  aiding  llie  Protestants ;  but  so  little  had 
there  been  of  a  mutual  understanding  between  the  parties,  or 
rather,  so  much  did  the  French  Protestants  dread  the  design, 
that  they  would  not  allow  Charles'  commander  to  land  with 
his  proffered  aid ;  and  the  king,  on  his  return,  approved  of 
all  his  bUindering  proceedings.  In  the  subsequent  year,  the 
Earl  of  Denbigh  was  sent  out  with  ninety  ships  and  provi- 
sions. The  besieged  were  very  sorely  pressed — from  two 
hundred  to  three  hundred  dying  daily.  Just  as  the  English 
fleet  came  in  sight,  they  gave  in  to  the  terms  of  their  French 
oppressors,  who  proceeded,  as  usual,  to  violate  them — level- 
ling the  walls  with  the  ground — and,  as  if  in  revenge,  melt- 
ing the  very  bell  which  had  been  used  in  summoning  the 
Protestants  together  for  civil  and  ecclesiastical  purposes.  It 
is  impossible  to  believe,  that  had  the  British  Government 
been  really  friendly,  they  would  not  have  been  able  to  render 
effective  relief.  Such  was  the  sympathy  of  the  British  na- 
tion with  the  Rochellois,  (in  Scotland  collections  were  made 
for  them  in  the  parish  churches,)  that  the  king  and  the  Po- 
pish party  could  not  prevent  the  sending  forth  of  repeated 
expeditions,  nominally  at  least,  in  their  behalf,  but  really  for 
their  overthrow.  Nay,  as  we  have  seen,  the  king  was  will- 
ing rather  that  the  lives  of  British  sailors  should  be  basely 
sacrificed,  than  that  French  Protestants  should  be  successful. 
"What  could  better  prove  the  Popish  thraldom  to  which  he 
was  enchained  ? 

After  the  fall  of  Rochelle,  the  strength  of  the  Protestants, 
as  a  political  party,  able  to  resist,  was  in  a  great  measure 
gone.  Hence  there  is  comparative  quiet  down  to  the  con- 
clusion of  the  period  of  which  I  write,  (1660.)  Their  out- 
ward defences  were  all  swept  away  one  after  another.  The 
very  distraction  of  the  country  by  political  factions  and  ca- 
bals, in  which  the  Protestants  took  no  part,  may  have  con- 
duced to  their  repose.  Perpetual  conspiracies  among  Popish 
parties,  doubtless  operated  as  a  diversion  in  their  favour. 
Men  had  not  time  to  quarrel  among  themselves,  and  to  quar- 
rel with  others  whom  they  no  longer  dreaded.  But  the  old 
hatred  to  Protestantism  was  as  keen  as  ever.  In  1634,  a 
man  was  liable  to  a  fine  of  five  hundred  livres,  who  called 
the  Protestant  places  of  worship  "  Churches;"  and  to  a  sim- 
ilar exaction  where,  in  speaking  of  the  "  Reformed,"  he 
forgot  to  prefix  the  word  "  Pretended."  Eleven  years  later, 
the  most  annoying  restrictions  were  added  to  those  already 


86 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


in  force.     At  Rouen,  a  Protestant  youth  could  not  become 
an  apprentice  to  a  goldsmith,  unless  this  were  balanced  by 
fourteen  Roman  Catholic  youths  becoming  apprentices  at  the 
same  time.     In  the  same  city,  Protestants  were  not  allowed 
to  act  as  apothecaries,  as  if  thus  there  would  be  danger  of 
their  poisoning  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome.     In 
Paris,  Protestant  females  were  forbidden  to  be  seamstresses; 
and  while  restricted  in  this  and  in  many  other  ways,   the 
whole  Protestant  population  was  subjected  to  the  annoyance 
of  a  host  of  ignorant,   self-appointed   Popish  missionaries, 
who  seemed  to  think,  that  after  the  fall  of  Rochelle,  nothing 
more  was  necessary  to  induce  them  to  become  Romanists, 
but  their  counsel;  and  who  thrust  themselves  in  upon  all 
occasions  into  their  houses,  to  the  serious  disturbance  of  the 
domestic  peace  of  the  unhappy  Protestants.     Still,  now  that 
the  Roman  Catholics  had  gained  the  complete  mastery,  all 
was  tolerably   quiet,  and  remained   so   for   several   years. 
There  were  even  occasional  acts  of  kindness  shown  to  the 
Protestants  by  those  in  power,  in  testimony  of  gratitude  for 
services.     The  first  serious  alarm  was  awakened  in  1656,  by 
finding  that  the  French  troops  had  been  employed  by  the 
Duke  of  Savoy  in  a  most  bloody  and  unprovoked  massacre 
of  his   Protestant  subjects  in  Piedmont,  on  the  borders  of 
France.     The  French  Protestants  naturally  interpreted  this 
as  a  preparation,  if  not  a  signal,  for  a  general  extermination 
of  themselves  and  their  brethren  on  the  Continent.     And  it 
is  not  improbable  that  this  might  have  been  the  result,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  zeal  and  determination  with  which  Oliver 
Cromwell,  who  then  swayed  the  power  of  Britain,   stood 
forward  in  their  defence.     If  Charles  I.  acted  a  part  most 
unworthy  of  a  British  monarch  in  his  treatment  of  the  French 
Protestants,   the  Protector  redeemed  the  character  of  the 
throne.  One  of  the  most  interesting  passages  in  English  his- 
tory is  composed  of  the  ten  or  twelve  letters  which  Milton, 
as  the  secretary  of  Cromwell,  wrote  to  the  leading  Protes- 
tant powers  of  Europe,  and  also  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and 
the  king  of  France,  stirring  up  the  former  to  a  united  inter- 
ference in  their  behalf,  and  remonstrating  with  the  two  latter 
for  the  share  which  they  had  in  the  horrible  atrocities  perpe- 
trated on  the  Piedmontese.     I  would  fain  extract  one  or  two 
of  these  letters;  but  my  space  does  not  allow.     Let  the  fol- 
lowing sentences,  which  bear  the  stamp  of  Milton,  suffice; 
the  sentiment  of  Cromwell  is  still  finer  than  the  style  of  his 


OF    FRANCE. 


87 


secretary.*  *'  For  my  part,"  says  he,  "  this  is  my  opinion 
of  myself,  that  I  am  now  advanced  to  this  degree  in  the  Com- 
monwealth, to  the  end  I  should  consult,  in  the  first  place, 
and  as  much  as  in  me  lies,  for  the  common  peace  of  the  Pro- 
testants." Again,  "  Neither  is  there  any  thing  which  we 
account  more  sacred  in  our  wishes,  than  that  the  whole  Pro- 
testant name  would  knit  and  grow  together  in  brotherly  unity 
and  concord.  In  the  meantime,  most  certain  it  is,  that  the 
common  enemy  of  the  Reformed  rejoices  at  these  our  dis- 
sensions, and  more  haughtily  every  where  exerts  his  fury." 
And  again,  "  Nor  should  we  think  any  fruit  of  our  labours, 
or  of  the  dignity  and  supreme  employment  which  we  hold 
in  our  republic  greater,  than  that  we  might  be  in  a  condition 
to  be  serviceable  to  the  enlargement  or  the  welfare,  or  which 
is  more  sacred,  to  the  peace  of  the  Reformed  Church." 

One  of  the  addresses  to  the  King  of  France,  (Louis  XIV.) 
is  striking: 

"  I  most  earnestly  beseech  and  conjure  ye,  most  Christian 
king,  by  that  right  hand  which  signed  the  league  and  friend- 
ship between  us,  by  that  same  goodly  ornament  of  your  title 
of  MOST  CHRISTIAN,  by  no  means  to  suffer  or  to  permit  such 
liberty  of  rage  and  fury  uncontrolled,  we  will  not  say  in  any 
prince,  (for  certainly  such  barbarous  severity  could  never  en- 
ter the  breast  of  any  prince,  much  less  so  tender  in  years, 
nor  into  the  female  thoughts  of  his  mother,)  but  in  those 
sanctified  cut-throats  who,  professing  themselves  to  be  the 
servants  and  disciples  of  our  Saviour,  Christ,  who  came  in- 
to the  world  to  save  sinners,  abuse  his  meek  and  peaceful 
name  and  precepts,  to  the  most  cruel  slaughter  of  the  inno- 

*  It  is  in  connection  with  this  massacre  that  Milton  wrote  the  well 
known  and  beautifiil  lines  : 

"  Avenge,  O  Lord,  thy  slaughtered  saints,  whose  bones 
Lie  scattered  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold, 
Ev'n  them  who  kept  the  truth  so  pure  of  old, 
When  all  our  fathers  worshipped  stocks  and  stones, 
Forget  not.     In  thy  book  record  their  groans, 
Who  were  thy  sheep  ;  and,  in  their  ancient  fold, 
Slain  by  the  bloody  Piedmontese,  that  rolled 
Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks.     Their  moans 
The  vales  redoubled  to  the  hills,  and  they 
To  heaven.     Their  martyred  blood  and  ashes  sow 
O'er  all  the  Italian  fields,  where  still  doth  sway 
The  triple  tyrant :  that  from  these  may  grow 
A  hundred  fold,  who,  having  learned  thy  way, 
Early  may  flee  the  Babylonian  woe." 


88  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

cent.  Rescue,  you  that  are  able,  in  your  towering  station — 
worthy  to  be  able — rescue  so  many  supph'ants,  prostrate  at 
your  feet,  from  the  hands  of  ruffians  who,  lately  drunk  with 
blood,  again  thirst  after  it,  and  think  it  their  safest  way  to 
throw  the  odium  of  their  cruelty  upon  princes.  But  as  for 
you,  great  prince,  suffer  not,  while  you  reign,  your  tides  nor 
the  confines  of  your  kingdom,  to  be  contaminated  with  this 
same  heaven-otlering  scandal,  nor  the  peaceful  Gospel  of 
Christ  to  be  defiled  with  such  abominable  cruelty." 

Nor  did  Cromwell  only  remonstrate;  he  intimated  his  in- 
tention of  making  use  of  arms  in  defence  of  the  Protestants; 
and  it  was  this,  doubtless,  which  checked  the  progress  of  the 
persecution.  It  was  not  a  safe  thing  to  come  to  an  encounter 
with  him,  who  declared,  and  succeeded  in  his  declaration, 
that  he  would  make  the  name  of  an  Englishman  as  terrible 
in  Europe  as  the  name  of  an  old  Roman.  Addressing  the 
United  States  of  Holland,  which  were  decided  Protestants, 
he  says,  "  On  the  other  side,  if  the  duke  (of  Savoy,)  shall 
once  permit  himself  to  be  atoned  and  won  by  our  united  ap- 
plications, not  only  our  afflicted  brethren,  but  we  ourselves, 
shall  reap  the  noble  and  abounding  harvest  and  reward  of 
this  laborious  undertaking.  But  if  he  still  persist  in  the 
same  obstinate  resolutions  of  reducing  to  utmost  extremity 
those  people  among  whom  our  religion  was  either  dissemi- 
nated by  the  first  doctors  of  the  Gospel,  and  preserved  from 
the  defilement  of  supersUtion,  or  else  restored  to  its  pristine 
sincerity  long  before  other  nations  obtained  that  felicity,  and 
determines  their  utter  extirpation  and  destruction,  we  are 
ready  to  take  such  other  course  and  counsels  with  your- 
selves, in  common  with  the  rest  of  our  reformed  friends  and 
confederates,  as  may  be  most  necessary  for  the  preservation 
of  just  and  good  men  upon  the  brink  of  inevitable  ruin,  and 
to  make  the  duke  himself  sensible  that  ive  can  no  longer  ne- 
glect the  heavy  oppressions  and  calamities  of  our  orthodox 
brethren. — Farewell."  The  States  of  Holland  fully  concur- 
red in  these  views,  and  expressed  their  readiness  to  co-ope- 
rate in  any  way  which  was  deemed  most  desirable. 

Important  as  such  steps  were,  Cromwell  proceeded  still 
further.  He  obtained  a  collection  through  England  and  Wales 
in  behalf  of  the  suffering  Piedmonlese,  which  realized  nearly 
forty  thousand  pounds — a  very  large  sum  in  those  days. 
The  Protector  himself  subscribed  two  thousand  pounds.  The 
distribution  was  intrusted  to  a  number  of  leading  men  in  the 
evangelical  cities  of  Switzerland,  who,  from  their  vicinity  to 


OP    FRANCE.  89 

the  Duke  of  Savoy,  were  supposed  to  be  better  acquainted 
with  the  people  than  those  dwelling  in  this  country.  "  Very 
many  places  and  parts  of  Europe,"  we  are  informed  by 
Moreland,  who  was  commissioned  as  ambassador,  by  Crom- 
well, to  Piedmont,  "  sent  letters,  with  large  contributions,  to 
the  poor  distressed  brethren  in  the  valleys,"  such  as  Franck- 
fort,  Zurich,  Hanaw,  Flushing,  Middleburgh,  Clairac,  Ber- 
gerac,  and  we  may  add,  the  Protestant  Church  of  France. 
Amid  all  her  own  poverty  and  oppression  she  contrived  to 
contribute  some  relief  to  lier  more  persecuted  fellow-Chris- 
tians. It  is  stated  that  there  never  was  such  unanimity 
known  in  the  history  of  the  world,  among  so  many  states 
and  nations  upon  a  matter  relating  to  religion,  as  in  the  sym- 
pathy and  liberality  shown  to  the  suflering  Piedmontese. 
And  what  was  the  result  of  Cromwell's  interposition  ?  There 
is  reason  to  think  that  it  was  only  partially  successful.  It 
certainly  checked  the  progress  of  active  persecution,  and  that 
was  an  important  matter.  But  three  years  after  we  find  the 
Protector  still  dealing  with  France  and  Savoy  on  the  subject. 
The  duke  professes  to  pardon  "  the  rebels"  on  account  of 
Cromwell's  intercession,  and  refers  him  for  a  final  settlement 
to  the  French  ambassador,  M.  Servient.-  He  seems  to  have 
deceived  the  English  with  a  peace  which,  we  are  informed, 
turned  out,  like  many  other  Popish  peaces,  to  be  but  "  a 
leper  arrayed  in  rich  clothing  and  gay  attire ;"  and  even  this 
measure  was  yielded  slowly  and  reluctantly,  and  with  many 
delays.  All  shows  with  what  parlies  the  poor  French 
Protestants  had  to  contend — soldiers  who  executed  the  blood- 
iest work  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy — an  ambassador  who  could, 
to  a  considerable  extent,  overreach  Cromwell  and  the  Pro- 
testant powers  of  Europe.  The  Protector  wished  the  king 
to  make  an  exchange  of  part  of  his  dominions,  with  the  duke, 
and  so  bring  the  Protestants  within  the  dominion  of  France, 
which  was  then,  it  would  seem,  more  tolerant  than  Savoy; 
but  the  proposal  was  not  listened  to,  neither  was  the  request 
to  punish  the  soldiers  who  had  committed  the  crime.  The 
measure  of  success,  however,  with  which  his  exertions  were 
attended,  show  how  much  might  have  been  accomplished 
had  the  influential  friends  of  Protestantism  been  always  zeal- 
ous, united,  and  persevering  in  behalf  of  their  fellow-Chris- 
tians. 1  need  scarcely  add,  that  the  Protector  of  England 
was  a  great  favourite  with  the  Protestants  of  France.  It  is 
said  that  they  had  their  eyes  ever  fixed  upon  him,  and  that 
they  were  in  the  habit  of  praying  for  him  in  their  churches. 


90 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


We  can  trace  in  the  history  something  ]ike  protection  and 
safety  for  them  so  long  as  he  Hved,  and  an  ahuost  immediate 
change  in  their  condition  for  the  worse  when  he  died.  So 
to  speak,  he  was  the  guardian  angel  of  Protestantism  at  the 
period,  whatever  may  have  been  the  defects  of  his  character, 
or  the  sins  of  his  conduct. 

Returning  from  this  partial  digression,  and  concluding  the 
notices  of  the  adverse  influence  of  Popery  upon  the  Protes- 
tant Church  down  to  1660,  I  may  mention,  that  in  that  year 
the  last  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  was  held.  No 
meeting  had  been  permitted  to  assemble  for  fifteen  years 
previously.  In  1657,  the  holding  of  colloquies  was  also 
interdicted.  Thus  the  Presbyterian  Church  government  might 
be  said  to  be  broken  up.  Indeed,  it  is  easy  to  see  a  strong 
hatred  to  this  form  of  government  breathing  throughout  the 
whole  period.  It  was  hostile  to  the  Prelacy  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  and  was  supposed  to  create  an  imperiiim  in  im- 
perio;  but  the  true  reasons,  doubtless,  were  its  popular 
character  and  strict  discipline.  This  was  a  severe  blow  to 
the  Protestant  Church.  So  long  as  there  were  simply  vio- 
lence from  without  and  desertion  from  within,  heavy  as  the 
evils  might  be,  the  Church,  in  its  noble  constitution,  still 
stood,  but  when  that  constitution  was  not  only  invaded  but 
destroyed,  what  remained? 

It  may  be  mentioned,  as  a  proof  of  the  growing  strength 
of  Popery  during  the  whole  reign  of  Louis  XIII.,  that  in 
Paris  alone  there  was  an  increase  of  sixty-nine  religious 
houses — twenty  of  them  for  monks,  twenty-nine  for  females. 
And  if  Paris,  the  metropolis  of  infidelity,  was  thus  Popish, 
how  much  more  may  we  believe  was  the  country  generally? 
Though  it  is  rather  anticipating,  yet  it  may,  in  this  connec- 
tion, be  stated,  that  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  the  monastic 
establishments  of  Paris,  already  so  many,  became  more  nu- 
merous every  year — that  at  its  close  they  were  one  hundred 
and  seven.  With  their  extensive  enclosures  they  covered 
one-half  of  the  surface  of  the  city.  The  population  at  that 
time  was  probably  from  three  to  four  hundred  thousand. 
What  peace  or  safety  could  be  expected  for  the  Protestant 
Church  in  such  circumstances  as  these? 

Having  thus  glanced  at  the  unfavourable  aspects  of  events 
in  regard  to  the  Protestant  Church  during  the  sixty  years  of 
which  I  write,  let  me  turn  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  one 
or  two  facts  indicative  of  the  favourable.  Many  will  be  re- 
served for  subsequent  and  separate  chapters;  but,  in  the 


OF   FRANCE.  91 

meantime,  I  may  mention  the  following,  which  are  of  a 
general  chracter ;  they  are  few  compared  with  the  long  list 
of  evil: — In  1598,  it  appears  from  a  report  to  the  Synod  of 
Montpelier,  that  there  were  still  seven  hundred  and  sixty 
churches  belonging  to  the  Reformed ;  and  that  between  forty- 
three  and  forty-four  thousand  crowns  were  annually  dispens- 
ed from  the  public  resources  for  their  maintenance.  Many 
of  them,  however,  were  poor  and  feeble.  At  the  same  period 
when  the  Princess  Catherine  partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
at  Angers,  not  less  than  three  thousand  communicated  along 
with  her — a  pleasing  proof  that  there  was  still  a  large  body  of 
devout  Protestants — not  a  few,  we  may  believe,  in  the  higher 
stations  of  life.  For  years  after  (1603,)  Du  Plessis,  speak- 
ing of  the  Protestant  Church,  could  say,  "  Our  churches,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  and  under  the  government  of  the  royal 
edicts,  enjoy  a  condition  which  they  have  no  desire  to  change. 
The  Gospel  is  preached  freely,  and  not  without  making  pro- 
gress." In  1619,  Bentivoglio,  an  historian,  states  the  num- 
ber of  the  churches  at  seven  hundred ;  and  adds,  that  generally 
they  have  two  ministers  each.  This  must  be  an  exaggera- 
tion, for,  in  seven  years  after,  the  numbers  given  in  as  a  re- 
port to  the  Synod,  are  six  hundred  and  twenty-three  churches, 
and  six  hundred  and  thirty-eight  ministers.  The  diminu- 
tion from  the  former  number  was  evidently  owing  to  the 
fierce  and  harassing  persecution  which  had  been  endured  in 
the  meantime.  Bearing  this  in  remembrance,  the  array  of 
churches  and  ministers  which  the  Reformed  were  still  able 
to  present,  was  highly  creditable  to  their  character;  and 
doubtless  there  was  a  great  deal  of  latent  Protestantism 
which  could  not  be  estimated.  In  1606,  not  less  than  three 
thousand  persons  attended  divine  worship  at  Charenton,  the 
first  day  that  a  church  was  permitted  to  be  opened. 

In  1637,  there  were  six  hundred  and  forty-seven  pastors, 
and  eight  hundred  and  seven  churches.  There  appears  to 
have  been  a  growth  of  the  Protestant  population  onwards  to 
1669,  so  that  De  Rulhiere  states,  that  not  less  than  two 
thousand  ministers  were  affected  by  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  1685.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  in 
seasons  of  odium  and  persecution,  it  is  the  natural  tendency, 
as  it  is  the  interest  of  the  suffering,  to  keep  as  quiet  as  pos- 
sible, at  least  as  quiet  as  principle  will  allow. 

I  shall  not  here  say  any  thing  of  the  orthodoxy  of  the 
Church.  It  was  only  sound  doctrine  which  could  sustain 
so  large  a  body  of  men  through  such  a  protracted  warfare. 


92  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

Nor  shall  I  advert  to  the  efforts  of  the  Church  to  maintain 
and  enlarge  the  professional  literature  of  her  ministers  in  the 
midst  of  all  her  trials.  That  will  afterwards  be  referred  to. 
But  it  may  be  proper  here  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  loyalty 
of  the  French  Protestants.  Much,  very  much,  was  done  to 
extinguish  it.  Their  Christian  principle,  however,  was  strong, 
and  bore  up  under  the  pressure.  They  might  be  denounced 
as  rebels — as  Christian  men,  contending  for  the  privileges  of 
the  Church  of  Christ,  have  in  all  ages  been  denounced — but 
they  were,  in  truth,  the  most  loyal  subjects.  In  the  long 
struggle  between  the  Court  and  the  Aristocracy,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  usually  called  the  war  of 
the  Fronde,  they  stood  by  the  Crown,  so  much  so,  that  the 
Protestant  towns  which,  in  the  spirit  of  Popish  persecution, 
had  been  broken  down,  proved  the  king's  best  defence ;  and 
part  of  the  fortifications  of  Montauban  was  actually  raised 
by  the  hands  of  the  Protestant  students  of  divinity.  This 
was  in  1652 ;  and  so  deeply  were  the  king  and  his  party,  who 
had  treated  the  Reformed  so  ill,  impressed  with  their  loyal 
and  devoted  services,  that  Louis,  in  his  answer  to  one  of  the 
letters  of  Cromwell,  a  few  years  after,  in  the  case  of  the  Pied- 
montese,  says,  that  he  was  the  more  disposed  to  listen  to  the 
Protector's  call,  from  his  own  experience,  "  in  regard  to  mine 
own  subjects,  who  are  of  the  same  profession,  having,"  he 
adds,  "cause  to  applaud  their  fidelity  and  zeal  for  my  ser- 
vice: they,  on  their  parts,  not  omitting  any  occasion  to  give 
me  proof  thereof,  even  beyond  all  that  can  be  imagined,  and 
contributing  in  all  things  to  the  lo  elf  are  and  advantage  of 
my  affairs.^''  How  sad  to  think  that  these  are  the  very  men 
whom  the  writer's  father,  Louis  XIII.,  so  "shamefully  en- 
treated" at  Bearne,  and  Montauban,  and  Rochelle;  and  whom 
the  writer  himself,  as  Louis  XIV.,  still  more  barbarously 
persecuted  by  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  a 
thousand  unutterable  cruelties,  to  which  we  shall  afterwards 
refer. 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  it  may  be  proper  to  record  the 
names  of  a  few  of  the  leading  ministers  of  the  Protestant 
Church,  who  flourished  during  the  period  of  sixty  years, 
the  account  of  which  we  are  drawing  to  a  close.  I  do  not 
refer  to  the  distinguished  Frenchmen — the  Reformers  and 
Divines  of  the  Reformation — several  of  whom  spent  most  of 
their  days,  such  as  Calvin,  Farel,  Beza  and  Rivet,  in  Switz- 
erland or  Holland;  nor  do  I  refer  to  Marloratus,  who  sufli'ered 
for  the  truth  at  Rouen;  and  Viret,  who  preached  the  Gospel 


OF    FRANCE. 


93 


to  listening  thousands  at  Lyons.  These,  and  many  other 
eminent  teachers  of  the  truth,  may  be  said  to  have  belonged 
to  the  sixteenth  century.  I  refer  to  their  successors — the 
faithful  men  of  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
how  noble  is  the  array  ! 

Du  Moulin,  a  first-rate  controversialist,  whose  works 
against  Popery  maybe  consulted  with  advantage  to  this  day. 
Moms,  famed  at  once  for  his  eloquence  and  learning.  Mes- 
trezat,  profound  in  the  Popish  controversy.  £ubertin,  whose 
single  work  on  the  Eucharist  of  the  ancient  Church  is  said 
to  have  obtained  more  celebrity  for  him  than  many  hundred 
volumes  do  for  their  authors.  Bochart,  a  celebrated  orien- 
talist and  illustrator  of  Scripture.  Faucheur,  eminent  for 
persuasive  eloquence.  Daille,  remarkable  for  erudition ; 
many  of  his  works,  which  are  very  numerous,  are  well 
known.  The  same  remark  applies  to  Drelincourt,  whose 
work  on  Death  is  said  to  have  passed  through  more  than 
forty  editions  in  different  languages.  Du  Bosc,  eminent  not 
only  as  a  preacher,  but  for  such  general  talent  and  address, 
that  he  was  employed  in  all  negociations  with  the  govern- 
ment, relative  to  the  Reformed ;  and  is  understood  by  his  in- 
fluence, to  have  postponed  the  fatal  measure  of  the  Revoca- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  for  years.  Claude,  tiie  opponent 
of  Bossuet,  and  author  of  various  works,  among  others,  of 
the  Defence  of  the  Reformation,  generally  allowed  to  be  the 
most  masterly  vindication  of  the  separation  from  the  Church 
of  Rome  which  has  ever  been  published. 

Such  are  the  names  of  the  leading  ministers  of  the  French 
Protestant  Church  in  the  first  part  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
And  who,  acquainted  with  their  writings,  or  with  the  reputa- 
tion connected  with  their  names,  can  imagine,  that  Presby- 
terian Church  government  is  unfavourable  to  literature  and 
learning?  It  would  be  difficult  to  produce  such  names  from 
among  seven  or  eight  hundred  ministers  in  any  other  com- 
munion of  Christians,  at  the  same  period,  or  even  now.  And 
when  the  sad  treatment  to  which  they  were  subjected,  dur- 
ing the  whole  course  of  their  history,  is  taken  into  account, 
the  result  is  the  more  wonderful.  But,  in  making  inquiries 
into  the  character  and  attainments  of  ministers  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  of  France,  in  its  early  days,  I  have  been  im- 
pressed even  more  with  their  devoted  piety  than  their  learn- 
ing. Their  death  scenes  seem  often  to  have  been  very  strik- 
ing. Judging  by  these,  one  would  have  imagined  that  the 
men  had  spent  all  their  lives  in  religious  retirement,  not  that 


94  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

they  were  active  and  unwearied  in  the  business  of  the  church 
and  the  world.  From  such  cases  one  may  gather,  either 
that  active  benevolence  is  more  favourable  to  the  growth  of 
piety  than  leisure,  or  that  a  peculiar  blessing  rests  upon  those 
who  devote  themselves  with  zeal  to  the  good  of  others.  The 
aposdes  of  our  Lord  exemplify  a  similar  character,  great  ac- 
tivity in  their  public  labours,  with  the  deepest  personal  reli- 
gion. 

Before  proceeding  further,  we  shall  give  a  sketch  of  the 
contemporaneous  history  of  the  Church  of  Scotland;  and 
then  contemplate  the  Christian  character  of  the  Protestant 
Church  of  France,  under  different  aspects,  from  1598  to 
1 660,  blending  some  reference  to  the  Church  of  Scotland  in 
the  same  form. 


CONTEMPORANEOUS    HISTORY    OF    THE    CHURCH   OF 
SCOTLAND  FROM  1592  TO  1660. 

A  REMARKABLE  general  correspondence  may  be  traced,  for  a 
considerable  period,  between  the  history  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  and  that  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  France.  Both 
starting  in  the  heart  of  Popish  countries,  they  had  a  severe 
and  protracted  struggle  to  wage  witli  the  Church  of  Rome. 
Though  the  Reformation  in  France  rose  up  very  rapidly,  yet 
the  country,  as  a  whole,  was  large,  and  the  Protestants,  nu- 
merous and  influential  as  they  might  be,  bore  an  inconsider- 
able proportion  to  the  entire  population,  which  remained  Po- 
pish. Scotland,  again,  being  a  much  smaller  and  less  popu- 
lous country,  the  Protestants  not  only  soon  became  equal  in 
numbers  to  their  Roman  Catholic  brethren,  but  formed  the 
great  majority.  The  effect  of  this  state  of  things  was,  that 
in  the  first  thirty  or  forty  years  after  the  organization  of  the 
Protestant  Church  of  France,  she  came  into  perpetual,  and 
in  some  sense,  equal  contests  with  the  Popish  Government 
and  party.  These  constituted  what  are  called  the  civil  and 
religious  wars  of  France,  in  which  much  property  and  a  mul- 
titude of  lives  were  lost.  Treaties  of  peace  were  made,  only 
in  a  few  years  to  be  broken.  It  was  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
last  of  these  that  the  horrible  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
deliberately  planned  years  before,  was  carried  into  execution. 
The  object  was,  by  cutting  off  the  leading  Protestants,  to 
render  subsequent  wars  and  truces  unnecessary.     That  was 


OF    FRANCE. 


95 


attempted  by  treachery,  which  had  long  failed  in  the  open 
field  of  war.   The  Protestant  Church  came  out  of  this  dread- 
ful persecution  not  a  litde  weakened;  but  her  spirit  and  his- 
tory had  shown  even  enemies  the  necessity  of  some  protec- 
tive edict.     Extermination  was  impossible.     To  attempt  it, 
roused  the  sympathy  and  indignation  of  Europe.  There  was 
nothing  then,  for  it,  but  a  recognised  toleration ;  and  this  was 
supplied  by  the  edict  of  Nantes  in  1596.  In  Scotland,  again, 
owing  to  the  great  majority  of  the  people  becoming  Protes- 
tant, there  were  no  religious  wars.     There  was,  indeed,  no 
small  difficulty  in  dealing  with  the  Government,  which,  in 
the  hands  of  Mary,  was  Popish,  and  in  the  hands  of  Regents 
Avho  succeeded  her,  with  two  exceptions,  (Murray  and  Mar,) 
unprincipled  and  rapacious  men;  but  her  son,  James  VI. , 
was  a  Protestant,  and  his  reign  was  long.     There  were  con- 
tests between  the  Church  and  the  Crown  in  connection  with 
Church  government  and  discipline ;  but  these  were  very  dif- 
ferent from  the   pitched  battles  and  bloodshed  of  France  at 
the  same  period.     And  moreover,   the   Church,  instead  of 
being  massacred  by  Papists,  was  successful  in  her  struggles; 
and  in    1592,  stood  forth  a  free  independent  Presbyterian 
Christian  Church;  and  yet,  at  the  same  time,  the  only  re- 
cognised and  Established  Church  in  Scotland.     There  was 
diversity,  then,  in  the  history  of  the  two  Churches,  and  yet 
there  was  resemblance:  struggles  with  Popery,  previous  to 
organization — prosperity  and  success  at  that  organization — 
protracted  w^ar  and  suffering  after  it — and  again  recognition 
and  protection.     There  is  an  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the  wa- 
ters in  both  countries — only  in  the  one  case,  there  is  much 
more  violence  than  in  the  other.  The  edict  of  Nantes,  1596, 
may  be  regarded  as  the  charter  of  the  Church  of  France ; 
the  act  of  1592,  as  the  charter  of  the   Church  of  Scotland. 
They  were  conceded  at  much  the  same  period;  and  here  the 
resemblance  between  the  respective  histories  becomes  more 
complete.     For  a  series  of  years,  both  Churches,  generally 
speaking,    prospered.     Early  in   the   seventeenth   century, 
however,  they  began  to  suffer.     In  France,  there  were  seri- 
ous infractions  of  the  edict,  which  issued  in  the  overthrow 
of  the   Protestant  stronghold  of  Rochelle,   in  1628.     After 
this,  there  was  comparative  peace  and  freedom  from  perse- 
cution till  about  1660,  when  steps  may  be  said  to  have  been 
begun  for  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes — a  revocation 
preceded  and  accompanied  by  unspeakable  oppression  and 
cruelty.     Similar  was  the  history  of  Scodand.     There  were 


96  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

serious  invasions  of  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  as  early  as  1610;  and  these  were  continued  and 
multiplied — often,  indeed,  defeated — onward  to  1638.  Then 
was  there  a  period  of  victory  and  triumph,  stretching  to  1660, 
when  a  dreadful  persecution,  of  scarcely  inferior  severity  to 
any  that  France  was  called  upon  to  endure,  succeeded.  In 
both  countries,  the  active  persecution  lasted  during  much  the 
same  time.  The  grand  difference  was,  that  the  Revolution 
of  1688  came  to  the  rescue  of  the  Scottish  Church,  and  gave 
her  thirty  years  of  unexampled  prosperity  after;  whereas, 
though  there  might  be  occasional  relief  and  alleviation,  there 
was  no  deliverance  for  the  Protestant  Church  of  France : 
she  had  a  century  of  suffering  to  bear,  closed  by  a  more 
dreadful  revolution  than  almost  any  that  ever  broke  upon  the 
world  before.  In  the  latter  part  of  last  century,  the  Church 
of  France  lost  no  small  share  of  her  spiritual  character  as  a 
Church  of  Christ.  In  the  same  period,  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land became  deteriorated  in  a  similar  manner.  It  would 
seem,  then,  that  a  general  parallelism  may  be  traced  between 
the  Church  of  France  and  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  their 
respective  histories.  When  there  is  peace  in  the  one,  there 
is  peace  in  the  other — when  there  is  persecution  in  the  one, 
there  is  persecution  in  the  other.  In  spiritual  declension  or 
prosperity,  there  is  likwise  a  general  conformity.  Does  this 
not  add  to  the  interest  of  contemplating  the  two  Protestant 
and  Presbyterian  Churches  together?  Let  us  then  return  and 
take  a  hasty  glance  at  the  Church  of  ScoUand  from  1592 
to  1600. 

We  have  noticed  some  of  the  fine  features  in  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Church,  from  her  public  recognition,  in  1560,  to 
1592 — a  period  of  above  thirty  years.  How  high  was  her 
standard  of  duty,  and  how  diligendy  she  laboured  for  the 
salvation  of  souls.  As  has  been  already  hinted,  she  had 
almost  all  along  to  wage  a  contest  with  the  Crown  and  many 
of  the  aristocracy.  They  disliked  her  Presbyterian  govern- 
ment and  discipline.  The  one  imposed  a  check  upon  the 
despotic  proceedings  of  the  king,  the  other  called  the  highest 
to  impartial  account  when  they  offended.  Attempts  were 
made  to  introduce  a  modified  Episcopacy,  to  get  rid  of  these 
evils,  as  they  were  regarded,  though  really  most  important 
advantages ;  and  also  to  atford  an  excuse  for  making  over 
church  property  to  needy  or  covetous  members  of  the  aris- 
tocracy, 'riiese  attempts,  though  in  the  first  instances  par- 
tially, and  for  a  season,  successful,  were  now  defeated,  and 


OF    FRA.NCE,  97 

days  of  lengthened  prosperity  seemed  to  stretch  out  before 
the  Church.  James  VI.,  who  now  occupied  the  throne, 
was  a  Protestant,  and  a  Calvinist,  and  professed  Presbyte- 
rian, and  had  liad  repeated  experience  of  the  indomitable 
spirit  of  the  Church  and  her  ministers.  He  also  fully  sym- 
pathized with  the  Reformed  Church  of  France:  so  much  so, 
that  he  corresponded  with  her;  and  in  1614,  sent  a  propo- 
sal for  a  general  union  among  the  Protestant  Christians  of 
Christendom.  But  with  all  this,  he  loved  arbitrary  power, 
and  the  free  courts  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  were  more 
formidable  barriers  to  it  than  even  Parliament.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  those  means  of  influencing  public  opinion,  such  as 
the  press — which  are  open  to  faithful  men  now — the  minis- 
ters felt  it  their  duty  from  the  pulpit  to  arraign  what  was 
wrong  in  public  proceedings.  The  prospect,  too,  which  the 
king  had  of  succeeding  to  the  English  throne,  and  the  desire 
to  please  his  English  subjects — members  of  a  church  having 
a  different  form  of  government  from  that  to  which  he  had 
been  accustomed — all  prompted  him,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  to  make  repeated  and  vigorous  efforts  to  introduce 
Episcopacy  into  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  to  appropriate 
to  the  Crown  much  of  the  power  which  at  present  resided  in 
the  Church.  Sensible  that  it  was  hopeless  to  attempt  the 
change  by  external  violence,  in  a  country  so  united  and  at- 
tached to  her  Presbyterian  Church,  he  adopted  the  more 
ensnaring  policy  of  making  the  Church  herself  his  instru- 
ment, and  endeavoured  to  obtain  one  change  after  another — 
discontinuing  his  efforts  in  particular  cases  where  he  found  the 
prevailing  feeling  too  strong  for  him,  or  fitted  to  alarm.  By 
gathering  together  some  ministers  whom  he  had  bribed  or  ca- 
joled, and  keeping  others,  on  false  pretences,  away,  he  con- 
trived to  obtain  meetings  of  Church  Courts — properly  speak- 
ing, pretended  meetings  of  Church  Courts — which  were 
pliant  to  his  wishes.  Thus,  he  obtained  a  sanction,  first,  to 
the  Church  being  represented  in  Parliament  by  so  many  of 
her  members — then  bishops,  as  perpetual  moderators  of  Pres- 
byteries— then  the  Articles  of  Perth  in  1618,  conforming  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  in  important  parts  of  worship,  to  the 
Church  of  England.  In  accomplishing  those  things,  of 
course  the  act  1592  was  rescinded,  and  not  a  few  faithful 
ministers,  who  resisted  his  proceedings,  and  asserted  the 
right  of  the  Church  to  free  General  Assemblies,  were  de- 
prived of  their  livings,  or  imprisoned,  or  banished.  Six 
were  exiled  to  the  Continent,  among  whom  was  John  Welsh, 

7 


98  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

the  son-in-law  of  Knox,  wlio  became  for  the  time  a  minister 
of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France.  The  celebrated  An- 
drew Melville  was,  on  idle  pretences,  detained  a  prisoner  for 
four  years  in  the  Tower  of  London.  But  with  all  this,  the 
king  and  his  party  did  not  succeed,  or  to  a  most  limited  ex- 
tent. The  Church  and  country  remained  substantially  Presby- 
terian. Any  change  which  was  made  was  accomplished  with 
the  greatest  difficulty.  Much  desired  projects  were  defeated 
or  suspended.  The  Articles  of  Perth  might  be  sworn  to  by 
young  and  pliant  entrants  into  the  ministry;  but  they  could 
not  be  introduced  among  the  people  generally.  It  is  plain, 
from  Wodrow's  Collection  of  Lives,  printed,  though  not  pub- 
lished, by  the  Maitland  Club  in  1830,  that  the  various  pro- 
clamations, letters,  &c.,  which  were  issued  by  the  king,  in 
London,  in  1607  and  subsequent  years,  with  a  view  to  these 
changes,  were  prepared  in  Scotland  by  his  miserable  syco- 
phants, the  bishops,  and  sent  up  for  royal  sanction.  'I'his 
is  particularly  manifest  from  the  letters  of  George  Gladstane, 
Bishop  of  Caithness;  so  that  after  all,  the  king  was  a  tool  in 
the  hands  of  his  creatures.  He  sent  down,  in  1610,  lists  of 
the  ministers  whom  he  v.-ished  to  be  called  to  the  General 
Assembly  !  What  sort  of  freedom  was  this? — and  what  sort 
of  General  Assemblies  could  these  be  ?  Doubtless  the  list 
had  previously  been  made  out  in  Scotland  by  those  who 
could  speak  of  James  as  their  "  earthly  creator."  Strange 
to  say,  Gladstane — who  had  been  so  ambitious,  and  who 
moved  about  from  appointment  to  appointment  live  times, 
and  had  an  income  of  fifteen  thousand  merks,  when  good 
Presbyterian  ministers  were  glad  to  have  five  hundred — died 
^820,000  in  debt;  and  so  slender  was  his  literary  provision, 
that  his  books  were  estimated  only  at  ^1330:  6s:  8d., 
while  Samuel  Rutherford's  were  valued  at  ^ElBOO.  I  have 
said  that  some  of  the  ministers  were  bribed  to  admit  Epis- 
copal encroachments.  There  can  be  no  question  of  this. 
Not  only  does  Gladstane  praise  the  liberality  of  the  king  in 
bearing  the  expenses  of  members  to  the  General  Assembly — 
which  he  might  well  do,  as  they  were  his  own  (another  word 
for  bribery;)  but  Row  of  Carnock,  in  1610,  speaking  of  the 
Assembly  at  Glasgow,  states  it  as  a  well-known  fact,  that 
several  were  bribed  with  gold  brought  by  the  Earl  of  Dun- 
bar. He  adds,  that  the  setting  up  of  Prelacy  cost  the  king 
£300,000  sterling,  or  £3,600,000  Scots  money.  Certainly 
this  is  not  very  creditable  to  the  Episcopal  cause,  nor  a  very 
good  use  of  James'  English  gold.     And  after  all,  the  king's 


OF    FRANCE.  99 

eflbrts  were  wonderfully  unsuccessful.  It  may  be  mention- 
ed, as  a  proof  how  well  Presbyterianism  kept  its  ground,  that 
in  1607,  though  all  the  Synods  of  the  Church  met  on  one 
day,  yet,  with  one  exception — that  of  Angus — all  declined 
the  perpetual  moderatorship  of  the  bishop,  which  was  one  of 
the  most  essential  parts  of  Episcopal  innovation.  It  is  re- 
markable, too,  that  in  spite  of  all  the  packing  of  Assemblies, 
the  intimidation  and  bribery,  which  had  been  employed  for 
years  together  in  a  poor  country,  there  were  not  less  than 
forty-tive  ministers  in  the  Assembly  of  Perth  who  protested 
against  the  conformity  to  Episcopal  worship,  while  only  one 
nobleman  and  one  doctor  joined  in  the  protest.  So  far  from 
their  being  any  leaning  towards  Episcopacy,  few  facts  can 
better  show  the  deep  and  unalterable  attachment  of  the 
Church  and  people  of  Scotland  to  the  Presbyterian  govern- 
ment and  cause.  Not  a  few  ministers  in  particular  districts, 
where  stronger  influence  could  be  used,  many  have  acquies- 
ced in  tlie  royal  usurpation;  but  the  feeling  was  general  and 
powerful  on  the  Presbyterian  side.  In  the  city  of  Edinburgh, 
for  instance,  where  the  influence  of  the  Court  was  great,  most 
of  the  ministers  may  have  been  willing  to  administer  the 
Lod's  Supper  kneeling,  but  the  neighbouring  ministers  of 
the  West  Kirk  refused  ;  and  such  multitudes  deserted  the 
City  ministers  and  repaired  to  the  West  Kirk,  that  for  many 
years  the  Lord's  Supper  in  that  Church  was  administered  on 
four  successive  Sabbaths.  There  was  no  other  way  of  over- 
taking the  crowds  of  communicants  ;  and  this  was  in  the  very 
neighbourhood  of  the  metropolis.  The  celebrated  Robert 
Boyd  of  Trochrig,  at  one  time  a  minister  of  the  Church  of 
France,  afterwards  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  as 
well  as  a  Principal  in  one  of  her  Universities,  in  a  letter  to 
the  not  less  eminent  Mornay  Du  Plessis  in  1610,  describes 
the  state  and  feeling  of  Scotland  in  connection  with  the  usur- 
pations of  James.  Speaking  of  them,  he  says,  "  This  is 
what  all  the  good  people  in  this  country  deplore  and  lament, 
and  very  justly,  as  a  desolating  stroke,  and  the  true  way  to 
introduce  or  force  in  among  us,  Popery,  Atheism,  ignorance 
and  impiety,  and  to  open  the  door  to  a  total  dissolution  ;  since 
this  (the  Presbyterian)  was  the  only  discipline  duly  and  well 
observed  in  Scotland — authorized  by  the  laws  and  statutes  of 
the  realm;  and  not  only  preserved  the  Church  in  purity  and 
concord,  without  error  or  schism,  but  also,  as  a  strong 
bridle,  restrained  the  audacious,  and  stopped  the  unbridled 


100  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

insolence  of  such  as  neither  feared  God  nor  the  king,  the 
law,  nor  any  civil  magistrate  ivithin  the  kingdom.''' 

Robert  BJair,  who  was  personally  present  at  the  General 
Assembly  of  Perth  when  the  articles  where  passed,  states,  in 
his  Autobiography,  that  though  there  had  been  bishops  for 
years  before,  yet  that  they  took  little  upon  them,  and  were 
very  little  opposed,  till  the  Penh  Articles  came  under  discus- 
sion. In  short,  the  Episcopacy  was  nominal.  Doubtless, 
this  was  the  reason  of  the  quiet.  He  adds,  relative  to  the 
Perth  Assembly,  that  the  bishops  frequently  urged  the  king's 
will;  but  as  for  reasons,  he  never  heard  any  except  one, 
which  was  easily  blown  away.  On  some  discussion  taking 
place  in  regard  to  the  articles  of  "  kneeling"  at  the  Lord's 
Supper,  which  bore  rather  hard  against  the  king's  party, 
Blair  relates  that  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  who  had 
intruded  himself  into  the  moderator's  chair,  burst  out  into  a 
great  passion,  with  these  words,  "  This  matter  shall  not  be 
carried  either  by  arguments  or  votes;  but  we  bishops,  with 
his  majesty's  commissioner — we  will  conclude  and  enact  the 
matter,  and  see  who  dare  withstand  it !" 

So  much  for  the  reign  of  James  VI.,  or  rather  for  thirty 
years  of  his  reign.  And  now,  before  parting  with  them,  let 
us  look  back  for  a  moment,  and  mark  the  general  character 
of  the  Church  during  their  passage.  After  making  all  fair 
abatements,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  that  character,  as 
a  whole,  was  highly  creditable.  The  Church  was  still  very 
poor.  Her  rightful  property  was  unlawfully  withheld,  or  di- 
lapidated in  various  ways.  In  1598,  the  ministers  complain 
to  the  king  that  they  are  unable  to  bear  the  expense  of  pres- 
byterial  visitations;  and  application  is  made  to  relieve  all 
those  ministers  from  public  taxes  whose  income  is  under 
three  hundred  merks,  indicating  how  very  inadequate  was 
their  provision.  But  in  spite  of  all  these  discouragements, 
they  continued  planting  churches  as  they  were  able,  and 
supplying  them  with  pastors,  and  raising  over  the  land  a 
strict  and  impartial  standard  of  discipline.  There  were  still 
indeed,  many  vacant  churches  and  destitute  parishes.  No- 
thing, under  God,  but  the  faithful  discharge  of  duty  on  the 
part  of  the  State  in  aiding  the  Church,  could,  in  such  cir- 
cumstances as  those  in  which  Scodand  now  stood,  fully  sup- 
ply her  people  with  the  ordinances  of  religious  truth;  and 
that  duty  was  not  performed,  or  very  imperfectly.  In  1593, 
there  were  twenty  vacant  churches  in  Angus  and  Mearns, 
and  in  the  Synod  of  Glasgow.     In  the  same  district,  there 


OF    FRANCE.  101 

were  nine  ministers  who  had  no  stipend.  In  the  Merse, 
there  were  thirteen  destitute  places  in  which  no  churches 
had  been  planted;  fourteen  vacant  churches  in  the  Presby- 
tery of  Dumblane;  eighteen  in  the  Highland  part  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Dunkeld,  and  seven  in  the  Lowland  district; 
one  in  Caithness,  two  in  Orkney,  and  six  in  Shetland.  Three 
years  later  (1596,)  we  are  informed,  on  the  authority  of  the 
Book  of  the  Universal  Kirke,  that  there  were  in  Scotland 
four  hundred  parish  churches  destitute  of  the  ministry  of  the 
Word,  besides  Argyle  and  the  Isles.  The  prevailing  sins  of 
the  country  are  traced,  and  justly,  to  this  destitution  of  the 
means  of  grace.  How  could  it  be  expected  to  be  otherwise? 
But  in  the  face  of  all  this,  the  Church  went  forward  in  the 
discharge  of  her  duty,  and  maintained  as  high  a  discipline  as 
if  she  had  been  in  full  and  perfect  organization  over  the  whole 
land.  In  1602,  all  her  unemployed  licentiates  were  required, 
by  commissioners,  to  take  charge  of  certain  vacant  church- 
es;— any  refusing  to  do  so,  forthwith  forfeited  their  license. 
We  read  of  twenty-four  probationers  being  at  once  employed 
in  this  way.  With  regard  to  ministers,  the  discipline  was 
strict.  In  1596,  they  were  to  undergo  a  searching  exami- 
nation of  their  own  spiritual  character  and  religious  life,  and 
that  of  their  families — such  an  examination  as  few,  perhaps, 
even  of  the  best,  could  now  successfully  stand.  Besides,  all 
holding  of  unlawful  employments,  to  which  poverty,  in  some 
instances,  may  have  driven  them — such  as  keeping  inns, 
worldly  offices  in  noble  houses,  attending  to  merchandize — 
was  forbidden,  under  pain  of  deposition.  At  a  later  day, 
taking  land  besides  the  glebe,  and  attending  markets,  were 
punished  in  a  similar  way.  A  number  of  the  most  eminent 
ministers  were  sent  forth  as  commissioners  to  visit  Presby- 
teries, examine  the  qualifications  of  ministers,  and,  where  they 
were  found  defective,  set  them  aside.  On  one  occasion 
(1600,)  thirteen  were  employed  in  this  service:  two  years 
after,  twenty-nine  were  sent  forth  on  the  same  mission.  The 
examinations  were  thorough — two  or  three  days  being  de- 
voted to  the  examination  of  a  Presbytery;  and  were  attend- 
ed with  important  results.  John  Welsh  and  Robert  Pont 
were  among  the  examinators  engaged  in  the  work.  Minis- 
ters were  required  to  attend  Church  courts  under  a  penalty; 
and  on  not  visiting  the  sick  when  informed,  were  suspended. 
While  the  ministry  were  carefully  looked  after,  the  people 
were  not  allowed  to  live  as  they  liked.  They  were  required 
to  attend  upon  divine  ordinances,  under  a  penalty.     We  do 


102  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

not  say  that  this  was  right,  but  it  was  well-intentioned,  and, 
at  least,  showed  the  anxious  zeal  of  the  Church  for  the  in- 
struction and  improvement  of  her  people.  In  1613,  in  the 
parish  of  Murroes,  the  heritor  absent  from  church  or  diet  of 
catechising,  was  ordained  to  pay  6s.  8d.;  the  husbandman,  2s. 
and  the  servant  or  cotter-man.  Is. — of  course,  Scots  money. 
For  a  first  case  of  intemperance,  a  man  was  fined  6s.  8d. ; 
for  the  second,  40s.  and  public  confession ;  for  the  third,  se- 
paration or  excommunication  from  the  Church. 

The  mode  of  dealing  with  Roman  Catholics  indicated  a 
high  regard  for  the  truth  of  God,  and  true  desire  to  save  souls 
from  the  aniichristian  apostasy.  Ministers  skilled  in  the 
Popish  controversy  were  required  to  go  and  sojourn  for  so 
many  months,  sometimes  three  or  four,  in  the  houses  of 
Popish  noblemen,  to  remove  their  scruples.  The  instructions 
to  the  ministers  in  1602  were,  to  explain  the  Scriptures  at 
table,  avail  themselves  of  opportunities  of  conversation,  cate- 
chise the  children  twice  at  least  every  day,  labour  to  preserve 
decorum  in  the  family,  and  see  that  churches  are  planted  on 
their  estates.  There  were  three  Popish  lords  on  whom  the 
Church  seems  to  have  bestowed  much  of  her  care — Huntly, 
Angus,  and  Errol — and  to  their  ultimate  conviction.  The 
public  recantation  of  lord  Gray  of  Kinfauns,  in  1613,  is  ex- 
ceedingly striking,  and  shows  the  success  of  measures  which 
would  now,  perhaps,  be  considered  impracticable.  Next 
year,  Lord  Huntly  writes  that  he  is  convinced  of  the  Pro- 
testant faith,  with  the  exception  of  the  sacraments.  Such 
was  the  impartiality  of  Church  discipline,  that  at  an  earlier 
day,  three  countesses,  Huntly,  Sutherland,  and  Caithness, 
who  were  more  than  suspected  of  Popery,  were  summoned 
to  subscribe  the  Confession  of  Faith,  under  pain  of  excom- 
munication, if  declined.  Nor  was  even  the  palace  safe  from 
Church  discipline.  In  1681,  the  king  is  requested  to  remove 
his  daughter  out  of  the  company  of  lady  Livingston,  who 
was  a  Papist.  Shortly  before,  he  himself  is  exhorted  to  ob- 
serve the  forms  of  religion  more  carefully  in  his  own  family. 
His  conduct  is  also  complained  of  for  not  attending  week-day 
services  so  regularly  as  he  ought,  for  speaking  during  public 
worship,  and  for  indulging  in  profane  swearing.  Here  was 
true  Christian  faithfulness,  such  as  few  Churches  can  boast 
of.  And  what  was  the  fruit  of  this  instruction  and  discipline? 
Popery  almost  disappeared  from  the  land,  and  the  vast  body 
of  the  people  made  a  public  profession  of  religion,  by  silting 
down  at  the  Lord's  table.    Thougii  the  poverty  of  the  minis- 


OF    FRANCE. 


103 


try,  and  the  number  of  vacant  or  destitute  churches,  were 
favourable  to  the  mahitenance  of  the  old  superstition,  yet, 
after  particular  inquiries  by  Presbyteries,  there  are  only 
eight  names  of  leading  Roman  Catholics  reported  :  these  are, 
the  Earls  of  Huntly,  Angus,  and  Errol,  to  whom  reference 
has  been  already  made,  as  ultimately  abandoning  the  Church 
of  Rome;  Sir  Patrick  Gordon  of  Auchindowan;  Sir  James 
Chisholm  of  Dundarn,  who  next  year  renounced  Popery  in 
affecting  circumstances;  Mr.  James  Gordon,  Wihiam  Ogil- 
vy,  and  Robert  Abercromby ;  these  are  the  only  names  in- 
serted in  the  league  against  Popery  which  so  many  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  nation  signed. 

And  while  the  supporters  of  idolatry  and  error  were  so 
gready  diminished  in  number,  the  faithful  so  increased,  that 
in  whole  parishes  all  of  suitable  age  made  a  visible  and  pub- 
lic profession  of  the  truth.  In  1600,  each  minister  is  required 
to  make  up  a  list  of  those  who  do  not  partake  of  the  Supper 
of  the  Lord,  at  least  once  a  year,  and  to  take  steps  in  regard 
to  them.  This  would  tend  to  swell  the  roll  of  communicants. 
It  was  almost  the  test  of  loyalty  to  the  State  and  to  the  Re- 
formed Church.  At  the  same  time,  suitable  qualifications  in 
knowledge  and  character  were  always  stricdy  required  of  all 
who  would  join  in  so  holy  an  ordinance.  At  a  later  day,  the 
celebrated  John  Livingstone,  whose  name  is  associated  with 
a  great  revival  of  religion,  speaking  of  a  parish  to  which  he 
had  been  appointed,  (Ancrum,)  says,  "  The  people  were 
very  tractable,  but  very  ignorant,  and  some  of  them  loose  in 
their  carriage ;  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  any  competent 
number  of  them  were  brought  to  such  a  condition,  as  we 
might  adventure  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper;  but  after 
some  time,  several  of  them  began  to  lay  religion  to  heart." 
This  shows  that  pains  were  bestowed  in  preparation  for 
the  ordinance,  and  that  men  were  not  indiscriminately  ex- 
pected or  asked  to  make  a  Christian  profession.  Num- 
bers, therefore,  may  be  interpreted  as  proofs  of  the  fidelity 
and  zeal  of  the  Church.  Thus,  at  so  early  a  date  as  the  first 
year  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  old  parish  of  Tullibody, 
now  so  small  that  it  is  joined  with  another,  had  between 
four  hundred  and  five  hundred  communicants,  and  all  seem 
to  have  been  above  sixteen  years  of  age — at  least,  this  was 
the  earliest  year  of  receiving  communicants.  Shortly  after, 
in  1610,  there  were  four  hundred  communicants  in  New- 
burgh.     In  1612,  the  same  number  in  St.  Vigeans,  and  se- 


104  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

venteen  elders.  At  Dunfermline,  two  years  after,  two  thou- 
sand communicants.  At  the  same  period,  (1611,)  there 
were  twenty-six  elders  and  deacons  in  the  town  of  Perth ; 
and  it  is  recorded  that  there  was  no  non-communicant,  no 
Papist,  no  excommunicated  person  in  the  parish.  This  is 
a  frequent  entry  in  the  records  of  these  days.  The  same 
testimony  is  borne  as  to  Rescobie,  Fettercairn,  Kilmeny, 
Slamannan,  Inverkeithing,  Ferry-port-on-Craig,  Forganden- 
ny,  St.  Vigeans,  Inverkeillor,  Kilspindie,  Linlithgow,  and  a 
multitude  of  others.  The  authority  for  these  statements  is 
the  Synod  of  Fife  Records,  from  1611  to  1689,  lately  printed 
by  the  Abbotsford  Club. 

And  this  brings  me  to  remark  that,  in  1627,  at  the  end  of 
the  reign  of  James,  or  rather  at  the  beginning  of  that  of  his 
successor,  there  was  an  official  report  made  up  by  intel- 
ligent men,  in  each  parish,  of  all  the  parishes  of  Scotland. 
At  the  present  day,  such  a  document  would  have  been  very 
valuable  ;  but  only  a  small  part  of  it,  extending  to  forty-nine 
parishes,  has  been  preserved.  Happily  these  parishes  are 
scattered  over  different  parts  of  Scodand,  so  that  it  is  the 
easier  to  draw  from  them  a  general  impression  of  what  the 
religious  character  of  the  country  must  have  been  as  a  whole. 
The  counties  from  which  we  have  reports  are  twelve,  in  al- 
phabetical order:  Berwickshire,  Clackmannan,  Dumfries, 
Edinburgh,  Haddington,  Kirkcudbright,  Perth,  Renfrew, 
Roxburgh,  Stirling,  Wigton,  and  the  Shedand  Isles.  The 
points  upon  which  information  is  given,  are  the  number  of 
communicants,  the  stipend  of  the  minister,  whether  there  is 
a  school  or  schools  for  the  young,  and  an  hospital  for  the 
poor.  Sometimes  information  upon  other  points  comes  out 
incidentally.  I  have  gone  over  the  list,  and  counted  the  num- 
ber of  communicants,  and  in  forty-eight  parishes  these  amount 
to  the  large  number  of  nearly  twenty-five  thousand;  in  other 
words,  five  hundred  to  a  parish,  a  far  higher  number  than  would 
be  found  in  many  of  the  same  parishes  at  the  present  day. 
This  may  be  regarded  as  the  indication  of  a  great  revival  of 
religion — a  great  moral  triumph;  and  let  it  be  remarked  that, 
under  God,  this  must  have  been  brought  about,  not  by  the 
schools,  but  by  the  faithful  preaching,  and  catechising,  and 
visiting  of  the  ministers.  Important  as  doubdess  was  the 
influence  of  the  teachers,  they  were  comparatively  few.  A 
very  frequent  answer  to  the  query  respecting  schools  is,  that 
though  very  much  needed,  and  though  there  was  ample 
teind,  there  is  no  school;  or   that   it  was  attempted,    and 


OF    FRANCE.  105 

owing  to  the  want  of  means,  abandoned.  It  is  remarkable, 
too,  as  showing  the  imperfect  state  of  education,  how  many 
of  the  commissioners,  who  were  appointed  by  the  Presby- 
tery to  make  the  inquiries,  and  many  of  them  were  evidently 
leading  men,  were  unable  to  sign  their  own  names,  and  so 
had  to  content  themselves  with  "  twitching  the  pen,"  and 
making  their  mark  in  the  presence  of  a  notary.  This  proves 
that  it  was  not  so  much  parochial  teaching  as  the  Gospel  mi- 
nistry which,  in  the  first  instance,  renovated  the  face  of  Scot- 
tish society.  The  power  of  the  preaching,  and  the  zeal  of 
the  ministers  in  instructing  their  catechumens,  seems  so  far 
to  have  compensated  for  a  very  partial  elementary  education. 
I  shall  give  the  substance  of  one  or  two  of  the  reports  on 
individual  parishes;  they  may  be  interesting  to  the  reader. 
The  minister  and  three  commissioners  make  up  the  report 
on  Ednam.  They  state  that  there  are  five  hundred  commu- 
nicants; that  this  year  there  were  five  hundred  and  fifty  from 
fifteen  years  of  age  and  above,  besides  one  hundred  and  twenty 
catechumens  from  eleven  years  of  age  and  above.  The  stipend 
amounts  to  five  hundred  merks.  There  has  always  been 
a  school — "  for  we  have  many  young  ones,"  very  poorly 
maintained  without  any  foundation.  But,  they  go  on  to  re- 
mark, "  The  teinds  might  very  well  bear  an  honest  provision 
for  a  school,  and  there  is  an  absolute  necessity  that  there 
should  be  a  school;  for  within  the  town  of  Ednam  there  will 
be  very  near  six  score  (that  is,  one  hundred  and  twenty) 
bairns  capable  of  learning,  and  the  most  part  of  the  parents 
are  not  able  to  pay  their  school  wages.  There  was  an  hos- 
pital for  the  support  of  Beadmen — poor  pensioners — but 
there  is  none  now.  Twenty  merks  are  appropriated  for  the 
purchase  of  communion  elements."  "  The  kirk,"  they  add, 
♦'  is  neither  spacious  nor  specious,  for  it  is  not  able  to  con- 
tain half  of  our  people  at  any  solemn  time  of  meeting.  It 
is  not  so  well  upholden  as  any  barn  or  byre,  and  except  it  is 
helped  speedily,  it  is  ruinous,  and  tends  to  falling;  and  our 
kirk-yard  dyke  is  lying  with  the  ground,  and  has  great  need 
of  repairing."  One  of  the  commissioners  gives  his  mark 
instead  of  his  name,  for  want  of  a  notary  to  sign  it. 

Of  Newbattle,  it  is  said  there  are  between  eight  and  nine 
hundred  communicants.  The  stipend  is  four  chalders  vic- 
tual, and  two  hundred  and  fifty  merks.  There  is  no  school 
nor  any  foundation  for  one ;  no  hospital,  though  ample  means ; 
and  "  a  greater  number  of  bairns  are  lying  near."  Two  of 
the  three  commissioners  "  touch  the  pen,"  being  unable  to 


106 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


write.  The  present  population  of  Newbattle  is  eighteen 
hundred  and  eighty. 

Many  other  interesting  cases  might  be  quoted,  but  per- 
haps the  most  interesting  is  the  Report  from  one  of  the  par- 
ishes of  Shedand.  It  is  wonderful  that  in  these  days,  when 
the  Nortliern  Islands  were  almost  inaccessible,  the  Reformed 
Chiircfi  should  have  carried  the  Gospel  to  them.  It  affords 
a  fine  testimony  to  her  zeal.  Three  heritors  act  as  commis- 
sioners, and  report  that  there  are  three  churches  served  by 
the  same  minister  in  turn.  The  communicants,  in  all,  are 
four  hundred  and  forty:  viz.  in  Nesting,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-eight;  Sandsting,  one  hundred  and  four;  and  in  Sker- 
ries, one  hundred  and  fifty-eight.  There  is  no  school  nor 
foundation,  nor  ability  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  maintain 
one;  but  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  school  in  the 
country,  "  in  such  a  place  as  is  most  convenient."  The  corn 
teind  is  paid  in  butter  and  oil.  The  commissioners  speaiv 
of  the  meanness  and  uncertainty  of  the  provision. 

Such  are  a  few  facts  which  may  enable  us  to  gather  some 
impression  of  the  general  character  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Scotland  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Charles  I.  Certainly  that  impression  must  be  most  favour- 
able to  her  fidelity,  self-denial,  and  zeal.  Tlie  encroachments 
of  the  king  render  the  success  of  her  labours  the  more  won- 
derful, and  leave  us  to  conjecture  how  much  more  noble  the 
moral  result  would  have  been,  had  she  not  been  weakened 
by  poverty  on  the  one  hand,  and  royal  interference  on  the 
other;  and  had  been  already  allowed  to  pursue  her  course 
unrestrained,  with  even  a  moderate  share  of  those  outward 
facihties  for  planting  churches  and  schools  to  which  she  was 
so  well  entitled  to  look. 

Charles  I.  succeeded  his  father  in  1625.  It  might  have 
been  thought  that,  taught  by  the  experience  of  his  predeces- 
sor, how  vain  it  was  to  attempt  to  bend  the  Church  and  peo- 
ple of  Scotland  to  Episcopacy,  he  would  have  desisted  from 
the  attempt,  and  given  freedom  to  his  Scottish  subjects.  But 
he  inherited  his  father's  love  of  arbitrary  power.  He  was 
married  to  a  Popish  princess ;  and  Arminianism  had,  in  the 
mean  time,  been  introduced  from  Holland  into  England,  and 
was  warmly  encouraged  by  Archbishop  Laud,  who  became 
the  king's  most  trusted  though  evil  counsellor.  Arminianism 
is  allied  to  Popery — indeed,  it  is  its  essential  spirit;  and  so, 
in  these  days,  it  was  allied  to  arbitrary  power.     It  professed 


OF    FRANCE. 


107 


great  zeal  in  support  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  Crown,  how- 
ever usurped.  This  was  most  grateful  to  Charles;  and  he 
encouraged  it.  Laud,  knowing  that  the  country  was  too 
Calvinistic  to  endure  at  once  Popish  doctrine,  endeavoured 
to  pave  the  way  for  it  by  Popish  ceremonies ;  and  therefore 
a  book  of  canons  and  a  ritual  were  prepared  for  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  No  one  acquainted  with  history  can  suppose 
that  I  do  injustice  to  Laud,  in  accusing  him  of  Popish  lean- 
ings and  objects.  It  is  notorious  that  he  was  the  great  fa- 
vourer of  Arminianism,  which  was  looked  upon  with  friend- 
ship by  the  Roman  Catholics  both  at  home  and  abroad — 
nothing  being  more  hateful  to  them  than  the  Calvinistic 
Synod  of  Dort.  It  is  well  known,  that  under  his  counsels, 
various  concessions  were  made  to  Papists ;  and  that  men 
Popishly  inclined  were  advanced  to  places  of  influence,  and 
that  the  Pope  twice  proposed  to  give  him  a  cardinal's  hat. 
It  appears  from  a  letter  of  the  Popish  queen,  recently  brought 
to  light,  that,  in  her  estimation,  he  was  a  right  good  Catholic 
in  heart.  There  can  be  little  question,  that  the  violent  steps 
taken  to  force  a  book  of  canons  and  a  liturgy  upon  the  peo- 
ple of  Scotland,  in  defiance  even  of  the  advice  of  the  older 
Scotch  bishops,  were  dictated  by  Laud's  expectation,  that 
after  Scotland  was  subdued  it  would  be  easier  to  carry  through 
the  same  changes  in  England — changes  which  would  approx- 
imate her  Church  to  the  Romish  model.  Charles's  queen 
pronounced  the  book  nearer  to  Rome  than  England.  The 
whole  proceedings  of  the  king  and  of  Laud  savoured  of  the 
despotic  and  Gospel  hating  spirit  of  Popery.  Contrary  to 
the  constitution,  he  attempted  to  rule  without  a  Parliament, 
and  for  twelve  years  no  Parliament  was  assembled.  In  the 
first  seven  years  of  his  reign,  he  issued  not  less  than  one 
hundred  and  forty-six  proclamations,  the  chief  object  of 
which  was  to  raise  money  without  the  sanction  of  Parlia- 
ment. His  encouragement  of  profligate  stage  plays  also, 
and  his  Book  of  Sports  for  Sabbath  amusement,  aiming  a 
blow  at  the  sanctified  observance  of  the  Lord's  day,  to  the 
grief  of  his  best  subjects,  and  the  serious  injury  of  the  king- 
dom, all  bespeak  the  presence  of  Popery.  From  such  a 
king,  governed  by  such  a  counsellor,  nothing  could  be  ex- 
pected for  Presbyterian,  Calvinistic,  Popery-hating  Scotland, 
but  the  worst.  Accordingly,  erelong,  the  worst  was  realized. 
Though  the  Church  of  Scofland  remained  wonderfully  faith- 
ful amid  all  her  struggles  and  temptations,  yet  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  protracted  and  increasing  encroachments  of 


108  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

Prelacy  and  Erastianism  were  fitted  to  be  very  injurious. 
The  substance  of  the  Church  might  be  Presbyterian,  and 
there  might  be  a  strong  under  current  of  sound  evangelical 
sentiment  and  feeling;  but  no  General  Assembly  was  allowed 
to  be  held  for  twenty  years.  The  old  and  experienced  min- 
isters died  out;  younger  men  did  not  inherit  all  their  spirit. 
The  bishops  were  perpetual  moderators  of  the  Synods,  and 
naturally  exerted  a  considerable  influence  over  not  a  few  of 
the  new  entrants;  hence  there  was  danger  of  that  being  ac- 
complished by  dogged  perseverance,  which  both  force  and 
fraud  had  failed  to  effect.  In  these  circumstances,  the  fliitli- 
ful  betook  themselves  to  prayer  and  fasting;  they  maintained 
regular  exercises  of  this  kind,  and  God  heard  and  sent  de- 
liverance. It  is  stated  in  the  Memoirs  of  Robert  Blair,  who 
lived  at  this  period,  and  who  was  afterwards  chaplain  to 
Charles,  and  cruelly  denied  the  satisfaction  of  visiting  the 
monarch  in  his  imprisonment,  (though  much  esteemed  by 
the  king,)  that  the  imposition  of  the  service  book  led  to  much 
conference  and  prayer  among  serious  Christians  through  all 
the  corners  of  the  land,  especially  in  Edinburgh.  Many 
private  meetings  were  held,  and  unconcerled  movements  ta- 
ken; hence  the  glorious  result  may,  like  many  others,  be 
interpreted  as  the  answer  of  united  and  persevering  suppli- 
cation. Happily  the  Royal  and  Erastian  party  were  per- 
mitted to  take  very  violent  measures — to  aim  at  nothing  less 
than  a  complete  change  of  the  whole  form  of  divine  worship. 
Had  the  proposed  change  been  slighter,  there  would  have 
been  danger  that  it  might  have  been  successful ;  but  the 
breaking  up  of  the  entire  and  most  sacred  associations  of  a 
whole  people  in  a  moment,  at  the  command  of  a  semi-popish 
king,  could  not  be  endured.  The  country,  through  all  its 
ranks,  rose  as  one  man  against  the  ecclesiastical  canons  and 
liturgy;  the  hesitating  became  at  once  decided;  and  Arch- 
bishop Spottiswood  jusUy  observed,  "  All  we  have  been  at- 
tempting to  build  up,  during  the  last  thirty  years,  is  now 
thrown  down."  Laud  had  hoped,  from  the  success  of  his 
measures  in  Ireland  against  the  Protestant  Church,  that  he 
would  be  equally  successful  in  Scodand ;  but  he  had  mis- 
calculated his  own  strength,  and  the  Christian  and  Presby- 
terian feeling  of  a  country,  whose  greatest  struggles  have 
ever  been  for  its  religion.  With  the  exception  of  the  cathe- 
dral towns,  and  one  or  two  others,  his  service  book  was  re- 
jected by  all  with  hatred  and  disgust.  The  whole  country 
might  be  said  to  be  unanimous  and  strong  in  its  condemna- 


OF    FRANCE.  109 

tion,  and  that  after  the  insidious  labours  of  Episcopacy  for 
thirty  years.  But  though  the  people  were  so  united  and 
strong,  and  though  they  had  been  so  long  injured  and  op- 
pressed by  the  bishops,  they  did  not  rise  on  them  with  the 
violence  of  revenge ;  they  were  too  much  under  the  influence 
of  Christian  principle  to  give  way  to  retaliation;  they  con- 
tented themselves  with  calm,  and  earnest  and  universal  re- 
monstrances to  the  throne.  In  a  single  day,  two  hundred 
petitions  were  received  against  the  service  book  from  the 
central  and  western  districts  of  ScotUmd  alone;  and,  in  a 
single  night,  five  hundred  of  the  best  men  appended  their 
names  to  a  supplication  to  the  king.  Thirty  of  the  leading 
peers  of  the  land,  declared  themselves  with  the  people,  in 
February,  1638.  It  is  estimated  that  sixty  thousand  persons, 
drawn  from  all  quarters,  among  whom  were  six  to  seven 
hundred  ministers,  assembled  in  Edinburgh.  When  beheld 
on  Leith  Links,  spread  out  in  multitudinous  array,  the  Mar- 
quis of  Hamilton,  who  was  commissioned  by  the  king  to 
negotiate  with  them,  was  aflected  by  the  sight.  A  National 
Covenant  for  the  defence  of  their  religious  liberties  was 
sworn  and  subscribed  by  all  ranks — the  highest  nobles,  as 
well  as  humble  peasants,  with  cheerfulness  and  joy.  Many 
testimonies  to  this  effect  might  be  quoted.  I  content  myself 
with  the  following  words  of  Livingstone:  "  I  was  present," 
says  he,  "  at  Lanark  and  several  other  parishes,  when,  on  a 
Sabbath,  after  the  forenoon  sermon,  the  Covenant  was  read 
and  sworn;  and  may  truly  say,  that  in  all  my  life  time,  ex- 
cept one  day  at  the  kirk  of  Shotts,  I  never  saw  such  motions 
from  the  Spirit  of  God — all  the  people  generally,  and  most 
willingly,  concurring — where  I  have  seen  more  than  a  thou- 
sand persons  all  at  once  lifting  up  their  hands,  and  the  tears 
falling  down  from  their  eyes;  so  that,  through  the  whole 
land,  except  the  professed  Papists,  and  some  few  who,  for 
base  ends,  adhered  to  the  prelates,  the  people  universally 
entered  into  the  Covenant  of  God,  for  reformation  of  religion 
against  prelates  and  their  ceremonies."  Indeed,  it  was  only 
such  a  united  national  feeling  which  could  enable  a  poor  and 
thinly  peopled  country  successfully  to  resist  the  forces  of  rich 
and  chivalrous  England.  Instead  of  breathing  of  rebellion, 
the  Covenant  bore  that  one  of  its  great  objects  was,  the  sup- 
port of  the  king,  in  maintaining  religion,  law,  and  liberty. 
It  is  acknowledged  by  those  most  adverse  to  the  Covenant- 
ers, that,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of  Aberdeenshire,  there 
was  no  part  of  Scotland  where  the  vast  majority  of  all  ranks 


110  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

were  not  enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Even  in  the  remote  Highlands,  in  Caithness-shire,  the  Cov- 
enant was  most  gladly  signed.  Leading  noblemen  of  the 
North,  such  as  Sutherland,  Reay,  and  Lovat,  were  among  the 
zealous  friends  of  the  movement.  The  effect  was,  to  bind 
the  country  together,  and  present  such  a  front  to  the  king  as 
could  not  be  easily  overawed,  and  as  perhaps,  no  nation  ever 
exhibited  before.  At  the  same  time,  the  whole  steps  were 
taken  in  such  a  way,  that  the  ablest  lawyers,  on  being  con- 
sulted, gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  they  were  perfecdy 
legal. 

But  I  must  not  detain  the  reader  on  this  interesting  period 
in  Scottish  Church  history,  which  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
condense.  Most  are  aware  that  all  the  negotiations  with 
the  king  terminated  in  his  agreeing  to  a  meeting  of  the  cele- 
brated General  Assembly — so  long  intermitted — which  met 
at  Glasgow  in  December  1638 — that  the  Marquis  of  Ham- 
ilton w^as  appointed  Commissioner — that  the  Assembly  had 
not  proceeded  far  in  its  deliberations,  before  he  dissolved  it 
in  the  name  of  the  king — that  it  continued  its  sittings  in  de- 
fiance of  this  usurped  authority,  deposing  the  bishops,  and 
breaking  up  the  whole  system  of  ecclesiastical  innovation 
and  tyranny  which  had  been  imposed  on  the  Church  for 
years,  and  that  its  proceedings  were  two  years  afterwards 
civilly  sanctioned  by  Parliament,  the  king  himself  being  pre- 
sent. I  need  scarcely  inform  the  reader,  that  the  resolute 
proceedings  of  the  Assembly  were  interpreted  as  rebellion, 
that  the  king  took  steps  for  war,  and  the  people  of  Scotland 
prepared  for  defence,  by  raising  troops.  These  were  placed 
under  the  command  of  General  Leslie,  and  old  officers  who 
had  been  in  the  Protestant  wars  of  Germany,  and  marched 
to  the  borders  of  England.  After  various  negotiations,  which 
did  not  issue  satisfactorily,  they  crossed  the  borders;  and  on 
the  retreat  of  the  royal  army,  took  possession  of  Newcastle. 
This  led  to  renewed  terms  of  peace.  The  armies  were 
broken  up;  and  the  king  revisited  Scotland  in  164J.  But 
England  w^as  now  in  a  flame ;  and  the  three  kingdoms  having 
entered  into  a  solemn  league  and  covenant,  for  their  mutual 
defence,  ScoUand  sent  twenty  thousand  troops  to  the  aid  of 
the  Parliamentary  army  in  1614.  In  the  meantime,  the  West- 
minster Assembly  of  Divines  was  called,  with  the  view  of  re- 
forming the  state  of  religion  in  England,  and  bringing  about 
a  uniformity  in  Church  government  and  order,  and  entered 
on  its  important  work,  the  fruits  of  which  are  felt  throughout 


OF    FRANCE.  Ill 

Christendom  to  the  present  day.  In  all,  it  consisted  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  members,  seven  of  them  Commissioners 
from  the  Church  of  Scotland — the  four  ministers  were  pre- 
eminent for  talent,  character,  and  influence.  It  sat  for  five 
years  ;  and  such  was  its  religious  spirit,  that  it  kept  not  less 
than  seventy  fast-days.  After  suffering  many  disasters  in  the 
civil  wars  of  England,  and  occasioning  much  unnecessary 
bloodshed  in  Scotland  under  Montrose,  the  king  at  last  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Parliamentary  army  in  1647;  and,  by 
a  violent  party  in  that  army,  the  Independents,  was,  two 
years  after,  brought  to  the  scafTold,  to  the  horror  of  the  na- 
tion, particularly  of  his  Presbyterian  subjects,  who  loudly 
protested  against  the  deed.*   Rebellious  as  the  people  of  Scot- 

*  I  trust  it  is  scarcely  necessary  now  to  vindicate  the  Presbyte- 
rians from  the  charge  which  used  at  one  time  to  be  urged,  very  igno- 
rantly  and  uncandidly,  against  them,  that  they  were  parties  to  the 
death  of  the  monarch,  and  that  their  principles  were  disloyal.  What- 
ever influence  the  delivering  him  up  by  the  Scottish  army  to  his 
English  subjects,  which  was  expressly  done  that  he  *'  might  be  with 
them  in  honour,  safety,  and  freedom,"  may  have  had  as  a  step  in 
leading  to  the  sad  conclusion  which  terminated  his  career,  few  points 
in  history  are  more  obvious,  than  that  the  Scottish  people,  in  spite  of 
all  his  cruelty  and  provocation,  were  devotedly  loyal  to  their  king. 
The  covenants  which  they  signed,  and  the  reluctant  steps  which  they 
took  against  him,  the  eager  coronation  of  his  son,  and  the  joy  at  his 
restoration — all  breathe  of  loyalty  almost  to  excess — certainly,  loyalty 
most  basely  requited.  And  with  regard  to  their  brethren,  the  Pres- 
byterians of  England,  it  is  well  known  that  they  were  the  most  zeal- 
ous opponents  of  the  military  usurpers,  who,  having  excluded  two 
hundred  of  the  Presbyterians  and  friends  of  Charles  from  Parliament, 
carried  through  his  trial  and  execution  under  the  semblance  of  law. 
As  scon  as  the  monarch's  life  was  seen  to  be  in  danger,  the  Presbyte- 
rian ministers  in  London,  in  forties  and  in  sixties,  in  their  own  name 
(and  these  are  still  on  record,)  and  in  the  name  of  their  congregations, 
repeatedly  and  most  earnestly  petitioned  and  remonstrated  against  the 
contemplated  deed;  nay,  did  so  at  the  hazard  of  their  own  safety. 
The  representatives  of  the  Church  and  State  in  Scotland,  too,  sent  up 
instructions  to  their  Commissioners  in  London,  calling  upon  them  to 
oppose  the  trial  by  all  possible  means.  So  far  from  the  Presbyterian 
party  being  even  douh)tful  in  their  loyalty,  it  may  be  safely  said, 
that  though  they  were  first  in  defence  of  their  religion  and  lit)erties, 
to  draw  the  sword,  and  did  so  successfully,  to  the  lasting  good  of  their 
country,  they  were  almost  the  only  parties  who  had  the  honesty  and 
the  courage  to  appear  publicly  in  behalf  of  the  king.  Besides,  Salma- 
sius,  IMorus,  and  Du  Moulin  the  younger,  who  defended  the  royal  suf- 
ferer on  the  continent  against  the  envenoaied  pen  of  Milton,  were 
Presbyterian  divines,  at  least  the  two  former ;  and,  in  thei'r  zeal  for 
his  family  and  cause,  went  even  beyond  the  sound  principles  laid  down 
in  such  cases  by  the  fathers  and  founders  of  the  Reformed  Presbyte- 


112  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

land  might  be  accounted,  they  were  loyal  to  a  fault  to  the 
royal  family.  They  proclaimed  Charles  II.  king;  and,  after 
the  most  solemn  pledges  and  oaths,  securing  their  religious 
liberties,  crowned  him  in  1651.  This  kindled  the  wrath  of 
Cromwell,  who  now  held  the  reins  of  government  in  Eng- 
land, and  who  was  afraid  of  a  monarchy  in  Scotland,  and 
the  loyalty  of  its  people.  Coming  down  to  this  country, 
he  obtained  a  complete,  though  unexpected  victory;  and 
speedily  subjugated  the  whole  kingdom.  Fourteen  thousand 
Scotchmen,  who  followed  their  king  into  England,  were  cut 
off  at  the  battle  of  Worcester;  and,  for  the  next  eight  years, 
the  government  of  Scotland  was  a  strong  military  usurpation 
under  Cromv/ell,  in  which  troops,  and  forts,  and  citadels,  ap- 
pear among  the  most  prominent  objects  in  the  history;  but 
there  was  little  or  no  persecution  of  the  Church. 

This  brings  us  down  to  1660.  And  now  let  us  ask  what 
was  the  general  character  of  the  Church  of  Scodand  as  a 
Church  of  Christ,  from  the  period  when  she  broke  forth  into 
active  resistance  to  the  daring  impositions  of  Laud  and  the 
unhappy  Charles,  down  to  the  last  days  of  the  Protectorate. 
This  period  was  eminently  one  of  warfare.  Most  reluctantly 
had  she  been  compelled  to  call  upon  her  people  to  take  up 
arms  for  their  civil  freedom — above  all,  for  their  religious 
privileges.  Did  she  lose  her  Christian  character  in  the  strife, 
and  with  it  all  the  religious  zeal  for  which  she  had  been  so 
distinguished  ?  No.  Freed  from  the  fetters  of  Prelatic  and 
Erastian  oppression,  she  expanded  with  unprecedented  vig- 
our. Her  very  weapons  of  war  seem  to  have  been  sanctified. 
Never  were  the  aspects  of  an  enlightened  Christian  Church, 
as  a  whole,  more  conspicuous,  than  during  her  struggles. 
Her  piety  was  adapted  to  her  circumstances.  The  self-denial, 
liberality,  and  religious  zeal  of  the  ministers  and  people, 
were  amazing.  Many  of  the  noblemen  supported  regiments 
at  their  own  expense.     The  Church  maintained  a  regiment 

rian  Church.  Nor  is  this  all.  Livingstone,  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  when  called  to  preach  before  the  Protector,  in  London, 
in  1654,  had  the  blended  courage  and  loyalty  to  pray  for  Charles  II., 
in  the  words  which  follow.  We  are  not  aware  of  any  Episcopal  min- 
ister having  discovered  superior  boldness  : — "  God  be  gracious  to  him 
whose  right  it  is  to  rule  in  this  place,  and  unjustly  is  thrust  from  it. 
Sanctify  thy  rod  of  affliction  to  him;  and,  when  our  bones  are  laid  in 
the  dust,  let  our  prayers  come  forth  in  thine  appointed  time,  for  doing 
him  and  his  family  good."  Regarding  Cromwell,  he  only  added, 
•'  As  for  these  poor  men  that  now  fill  his  room,  Lord  be  merciful  to 
them." 


OF  FRANCE.  113 

of  horse.     Women  of  high  rank  worked  at  the  fortifications. 
Humbler  matrons  came  forth  with  their  plenishing  of  sheet- 
ing, and  made  tents  for  the  army;  whilst  almost  the  whole 
plate  of  the  country  was  so  liberally  devoted  to  the  service, 
that  scarcely  any  traces  of  it  were  to  be  met  with  for  years, 
though  Scotland  had  been  rich  in  plate.   £100,000  were  col- 
lected in  a  few  weeks — not  so  much  by  the  contributions  of 
the  great,  as  by  the  preaching  of  the  ministers  among  the 
people.     It  is  related  by  Livingstone,  that  the  army  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Dunse,  in  1640,  needing  supplies  of  food 
and  clothing,  the  celebrated  Alexander  Henderson,  and  a  few 
others,  were  sent  to   Edinburgh — "  and  within  a  few  days 
brought  as  much  meal  and  cloth  to  the  soldiers,  by  the  gift 
of  well  affected  people  there,  as  sufficed  the  whole  army," — 
amounting  to  many  thousand  men.     Livingstone  adds,  that 
his  parish  of  Stranraer,  though  litQe  and  poor,  sent  a  comple- 
ment of  fifteen  men;  and,  on  a  single  Sabbath-day,  collected 
£45.     An  interesting  anecdote  of  a  poor  Irish  woman,  (five 
hundred  of  whose  countrymen  have  been  known  to  pass  over 
and  partake  of  the  communion  at  Stranraer,  under  Living- 
stone,) is  recorded.     She  "gave  seven  twenty-two  shilling 
sterling  pieces,  and  an  eleven  pound  piece.     When,  the  day 
after,  I  inquired  of  her  how  she  came  to  give  so  much ;  she 
answered — '  I  was  gathering,  and  had  laid  this  up  to  be  a 
part  of  a  portion  to  a  young  daughter  I  had;  and  as  the  Lord 
hath  lately  been  pleased  to  take  my  daughter  to  himself,  I 
thought  I  would  give  him  her  portion  also.'  "     The  liberali- 
ties of  the  Ciiurch  and  people  of  Scotland  afforded  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  difficulty  with  which  money  was  raised  by  the 
king,   even  with    the   aid  of  unlawful  means.     Chaplains, 
consisting  of  leading  ministers,  were  sent  forth  with  the  army ; 
and  while  they  gave  encouragement  and  spirit  to  the  troops, 
by  their  instructions  and  prayers,  they  exerted  such  a  moral 
influence  upon  the  soldiers,  as  to  present  the  army  in  aspects 
it  had  never  worn  before.     The  Covenanters  would  not  ac- 
cept the  services  of  excommunicated  or  profane  men.     This 
was  well ;  but  they  went  further.    They  anxiously  laboured 
that  the  whole  army  should  be  animated  and  governed  by  a 
religious  spirit.     In  Blair's  Memoirs  it  is  said — "  Amongst 
all  the  Scots'  army  there  was  scarcely  a  man  who  wanted  a 
Bible — and  a  great  part  of  them  were  devout  and  religious 
persons — so  that  when  they  came  to  their  quarters,  there  was 
little  else  to  be  heard  but  reading:,  prayer,  and  solemn  melo- 
dy."    The  numbers  of  the  army  were  from  twenty-three 

8 


114  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

thousand  to  twenty-four  thousand.  How  striking  a  testimo- 
ny is  this  to  their  character;  and  how  impressively  does  the 
resuh  show,  that  there  is  no  inconsistency  between  a  devout 
attention  to  the  claims  of  religion,  and  profound  military  coun- 
sel, and  vigorous  military  achievements.  On  Lord  Burgh- 
ley  applying  to  the  Synod  of  Fife  for  a  chaplain  to  the  regi- 
ment which  he  raised  in  that  country,  a  choice  of  five  paro- 
chial ministers  was  given  him.  This  was  not  accounted  too 
great  a  sacrifice.  Four  years  after,  (1644)  when  Lord  El- 
cho  went  to  the  North  to  put  down  the  "  impious  rebellion" 
of  Montrose  against  the  kirk  and  kingdom,  he  requested  the 
aid  of  two  ministers  to  go  along  with  him ;  and  two  were 
sent  for  forty  days.  Their  places,  in  the  meantime,  were 
supplied  by  brethren  of  the  Presbytery,  who  were  to  relieve 
them.  Similar  applications  were  made  by  Lord  Balcarras, 
for  his  regiment  of  horse,  which  were  at  once  attended  to. 
Collections  were  made  in  parishes  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
army.  We  read  of  six  hundred,  and  eight  hundred,  and 
eighteen  hundred  merks,  being  sent  in  by  a  few  Presbyte- 
ries; and  of  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  merks  being 
contributed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Cupar,  for  the  support  of 
the  regiment  of  horse  maintained  by  the  ministry  of  the 
Church.  Sums  of  money,  also,  were  collected  for  the  wi- 
dows and  orphans  of  those  who  had  fallen  in  the  war.  The 
same  Presbytery  sent  £694  to  the  sufferers  in  Argyle.  Fasts 
were  held  when  the  army  suffered  defeat:  days  of  thansgiv- 
ing  when  successful.  In  short,  every  movement  indicated 
both  that  the  men  and  the  war  were  religious. 

It  is  no  satisfactory  answer  to  these  facts,  to  recall  the 
cruelties  which  were  committed  by  the  Covenanting  army. 
Not  to  remind  the  reader,  that  the  whole  Presbyterian  people 
are  not  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  proceedings  even  of 
their  army  or  their  leaders,  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that 
these  were  very  rare,  and  prompted  by  the  severest  provo- 
cation, if  not  inflicted  in  actual  self-defence.  It  is  notorious 
that  the  perjured  Montrose,  the  favourite  general  of  Charles 
I.,  was  the  aggressor,  and  that  his  atrocious  cruelties  were 
most  wanton.  The  simple  fact  that,  in  his  six  victorious 
battles — gained  by  twelve  hundred  Irish  foreigners — chiefly 
Papists,  he  only  lost  one  hundred  men,  while  he  slaughtered 
sixteen  thousand,  is  a  plain  proof  that  there  must  have  been 
the  most  unprovoked  sacrifice  of  life.  Hundreds  who  had 
no  connection  whatever  w-ith  the  war,  were  massacred  in 
cold  blood.     At  Kilsyth,  seven  thousand  were  slain  without 


OF    FRANCE.  115 

resistance,  fleeing  for  fourteen  miles  before  their  merciless 
pursuers.  So  deeply  were  the  general  population  affected 
by  their  fate,  that  they  went  into  mourning.  It  is  estimated 
that  in  two  years,  thirty  thousand  Covenanters  "  were  wrapt 
in  their  winding-sheet" — five  thousand  from  the  county  of 
Fife.  It  would  have  been  wonderful,  if,  after  such  excesses 
as  these,  the  Scottish  army  had  shown  no  severity  against 
the  Irish  foreigners,  who  had  invaded  their  country  in  the 
name  of  the  king.  But  nothing  is  plainer,  than  that  had  it 
not  been  for  the  presence  and  power  of  true  religion  among 
the  Covenanters,  their  severities  would  have  been  a  hundred- 
fold more  keen  and  extensive  than  they  were.  It  was  their 
Christianity  Avhich  restrained  them. 

Nor  was  it  only  in  connection  with  the  war  into  which 
they  had  been  driven,  that  they  showed  their  religion;  the 
Church,  during  the  whole  course  of  those  years  of  trial, 
abounded  in  the  labours  of  a  great  Christian  institution.  She 
was  not  so  engrossed  with  the  claims  of  self-preservation,  as 
to  forget  every  thing  else — she  did  not  postpone  her  duties 
to  the  souls  of  men  to  a  more  convenient  season.  Incessant 
and  vigorous  exertions  were  made  to  sweep  away  all  remains 
of  Popish  idolatry  from  the  few  remaining  ecclesiastical 
buildings  which  retained  them ;  and  so  successful  was  the 
Church  in  her  efforts  against  Popery,  as  a  whole,  that  in 
1642,  it  could  be  recorded  in  the  Synod  Book  of  Fife,  that 
there  was  not  so  much  as  one  excommunicated  Papist  in  that 
large  synod,  which  ecclesiastically  embraced  a  much  wider 
circuit  than  the  present  county.  Exertions  not  less  laborious 
were  directed  to  the  protection  and  better  observance  of  the 
Sabbath ;  and  the  education  of  the  young  was  made  a  chief 
object  of  care,  and  was  carried  into  effect  to  an  extent  in 
which  it  had  hitherto  been  altogether  unknown  in  Scotland, 
and  which  even  to  us  is  marvellous.  Nor,  if  we  may  judge 
from  particular  presbyteries  and  synods,  was  there  any  fall- 
ing off  in  the  number  of  ministers,  at  a  season  when  fear  or 
other  motives  might  have  reduced  the  number;  on  the  con- 
trary, Church  extension  went  forward  with  wonderful  rapi- 
dity :  vacant  parishes  were  supplied,  and  there  was  a  greater, 
a  growing  number  of  ministers.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Begg,  of 
Liberton,  in  his  excellent  pamphlet  on  the  Antiquity  of 
Church  Extension,  has  most  conclusively  shown  that  the 
multiplication  of  churches  and  ministers  was  one  of  the  lead- 
ing objects  of  the  Church,  particularly  from  1638,  onwards 
to  1649,  the  very  years  of  severest  national  struggle.     It  ap- 


116  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

pears  from  the  records  of  these  days,  that  both  Presbyteries 
and  Synods  laboured  with  all  zeal  and  perseverance  for  the 
division  and  subdivision  of  parishes,  which  now  would  not 
be  accounted  large  or  unmanageable — that  ministers  deeply 
felt  and  complained  of  the  burden,  and  sacrificed  part  of  their 
humble  stipend  to  be  relieved — that  heritors  and  leading  men 
were  earnestly  dealt  with  for  their  assistance — that  poor  men 
liberally  contributed  both  for  the  building  of  the  church  and 
the  maintenance  of  the  minister — that  the  most  eminent  min- 
isters, such  as  Henderson,  Douglas  and  Gillespie,  members 
of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  did  not  account  it  beneath 
them  to  be  engaged  in  this  work — that  the  Church  thought 
herself  called  upon  to  provide  for  so  small  a  number  of  des- 
titute persons  as  two  hundred ;  nay,  to  make  provision  for 
the  religious  instruction  of  temporary  concourses  of  people, 
such  as  the  herring  fishery  collected.  It  appears,  too,  that 
where  these  Church  extension  efforts  were  unsuccessful,  it 
was  from  no  want  of  zeal  or  perseverance  on  the  part  of 
Church  courts,  but  from  the  speedy  overthrow  of  the  Pres- 
byterian establishment,  by  the  violence  of  persecution.  Mr. 
Begg's  interesting  historical  facts  are  drawn  from  the  Synod 
of  Lothian  and  Tweeddale,  and  refer  to  the  parishes  of  Fal- 
kirk, Borrowslounness,  Linlithgow,  St.  Cuthbert's,  Inveresk, 
Haddington,  Tranent  and  Dunbar;  but  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  the  spirit  was  general,  yea,  universal.  The  excellent 
Robert  Blair,  in  1642,  found  his  burden  among  the  people 
of  St.  Andrews  insupportable,  "  by  reason  that  his  congrega- 
tion was  vastly  numerous,"  &;c.  He  obtained  a  division  of 
the  parish — parted  with  a  considerable  share  of  his  own  pro- 
vision, so  as  to  form  a  competent  stipend;  and  then,  by  a 
voluntary  contribution,  built  an  additional  church  and  manse. 
A  minister  was  ordained  in  1646,  whereby  Mr.  Blair  "  was 
much  eased  of  the  weighty  burden  laid  upon  him."  Not 
wearied  out  with  such  labours  and  sacrifices,  this  good  man, 
in  1660,  attempted  to  get  another  parish  erected  out  of  St. 
Andrews.  But  the  infamous  Sharpe,  afterwards  the  arch- 
bishop, saw  that  this  might  interfere  with  his  hoped  for 
"  living"  at  St.  Andrews,  and  had  sufficient  influence  at 
Court  to  prevent  the  disjunction — a  sad  omen  of  the  worldly 
and  persecuting  days  which  were  to  follow. 

The  case  of  the  second  charge  of  Dunfermline  is  a  good 
illustration  of  the  Church  extension  of  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  It  appears  from  the  records,  that  the 
Synod  took  up  the  case,  and  called  a  meeting  of  heritors  and 


OF    FRANCE. 


117 


parishioners  to  assemble  on  a  certain  day.  They  did  so ; 
and  all  concurred  in  the  importance  of  having  another  minis- 
ter for  the  parish,  and  also  in  making  a  competent  provision 
for  him  from  the  "  rents  and  lands."  A  leading  heritor,  lord 
Dunfermline,  being  in  England,  commissioners  are  appointed 
to  deal  with  a  lord  Callander,  who  acts  for  him  in  his  absence. 
He  declares  that  his  lordship,  "  shall  not  be  deficient  for  his 
part."  At  the  request  of  the  heritors,  a  suitable  provision  is 
appointed  by  the  Civil  Court,  and  in  eight  short  months 
from  the  beginning  of  the  proceedings,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kay  of 
Dumbarton  is  settled  minister  of  the  second  charge  of  Dun- 
fermline. The  Church  acted  in  the  most  systematic  way  in 
her  extension  movements.  She  did  not  wait  till  cases  of 
emergency  occurred,  and  the  people  complained  of  destitu- 
tion. She  sent  down  a  list  of  queries  to  ascertain  where 
there  was  a  deficiency,  that  she  might  take  steps  for  imme- 
diately supplying  it.  Thus,  in  1649,  the  Commission  of  the 
General  Assembly  write  a  letter  to  the  Presbytery  of  Cupar, 
complaining,  that  two  years  before,  a  list  of  questions  had 
been  sent,  which  had  not  been  attended  to.  The  Presbytery 
is  now  required  to  set  down  all  the  parishes  within  its  bounds 
that  have  ministers,  and  which  not — the  extent  of  the  pa- 
rishes— the  commodious  or  incommodious  situation  of  the 
parish  kirk — the  number  of  communicants — the  patrons, 
where  there  are  patrons — the  present  provision  for  ministers, 
and  what  room  there  is  for  further  ministers.  An  imme- 
diate answer  to  these  inquiries  is  demanded. 

But  there  are,  if  possible,  still  more  unequivocal  proofs  of 
spiritual  progress  than  these  things  afford.  In  1639,  when 
the  people  were  actually  engaged  in  war  with  their  king,  we 
find  that  lists  of  topics  were  drawn  up  for  trial  of  Presby- 
teries within  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Fife,  a  very  import- 
tant  Synod  in  these  days ;  and,  doubtless,  the  spirit  of  refor- 
mation was  not  confined  to  one  county.  They  are  embraced 
under  such  questions  as  these :  '*  If  ministers  keep  faithfully 
the  ordinary  meetings  of  the  Presbytery,  for  doctrine  and 
discipline — if  they  have  monthly  discussions  (viz.  on  theo- 
logical topics,)  according  to  the  Act  of  Assembly — if  all  the 
churches  are  visited  between  every  Synod — if  Presbyteries 
are  careful  in  planting  and  providing  their  kirks — if  attentive 
in  the  admission  of  ministers,  previously  to  try  them — if  any 
Papists  live  within  the  bounds — if  they  are  careful  for  the 
provision  of  the  poor — if  catechising  be  universal  in  burgh 


118 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


and  landward  parishes — if  ministers  use  doctrine  forenoon 
and  afternoon  on  Sabbath — if  there  is  doctrine  on  the  week- 
days in  burghs — if  there  is  an  ordinary  visitation  of  families." 
These  were  searching  inquiries.  It  is  added,  that  in  several 
answers  there  was  found  great  negligence,  and  sundry  things 
done  amiss — but,  with  God's  assistance,  amendment  is  pro- 
mised for  the  future.  In  1849,  men  were  appointed  to  purge 
out  "corrupt  ministers."  In  this  way,  not  a  few  profane, 
insufficient,  and  unfaithful  were  deposed,  especially  in  An- 
gus, Mearns,  and  Stirlingshire.  Important  duties,  however, 
were  not  only  pressed  upon  ministers  and  Presbyteries,  they 
were  urged  upon  families.  I  allude  to  family  worship  as  an 
illustration.  In  1644,  when  Montrose  was  ravaging  the 
country  in  blood,  the  Synod  of  Fife  was  dealing  in  such  ex- 
hortations as  the  following:  Immediately  after  the  rising  of 
Synod,  every  minister  is  to  begin  the  visitation  of  the  fami- 
lies of  his  charge,  exhorting  them  most  earnestly  to  repent- 
ance, and  pressing  the  performance  of  prayer  in  families, 
and  teaching  them  particularly  how  to  go  about  the  duty. 
Among  further  directions,  ministers  are  called  upon  to  inquire 
what  order  is  kept  in  every  family  for  religious  exercises, 
both  on  the  week  days,  and  on  the  Lord's  day ;  to  instruct 
their  people  in  the  materials  of  prayer,  and  of  the  observation 
of  the  whole  Sabbath  in  families;  and  exhort  them  not  to 
rest  in  read  prayers,  nor  in  spending  a  part  of  the  Lord's  day. 

Nor  must  I  close  these  notices  of  the  Christian  spirit  and 
character  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  troublous  and  suffering 
times,  without  alluding  to  her  fast-days,  and  the  reasons  of 
their  appointment.  Such  days  were  very  numerous,  parti- 
cularly while  the  contest  was  going  on  in  England,  and  Mont- 
rose was  making  havoc  of  Scotland.  In  addition  to  the  fasts 
appointed  by  the  Commission  of  the  General  Assembly, 
some  of  which  seem  to  have  been  quarterly,  a  monthly  fast, 
I  find,  was  for  a  time  observed  by  the  parishes  in  the  Synod 
of  Fife.  The  Christian  reader  will  be  best  able  to  interpret 
the  reasons  assigned,  as  an  evidence  of  the  presence  of  true 
religion.  The  28th  November,  1641,  being  a  Sabbath-day, 
was  publicly  observed  as  a  solemn  fasting  day,  for  the  fol- 
lowing causes: 

1.  To  crave  mercy  for  the  many  prevailing  sins  through 
all  the  parts  of  this  kingdom,  especially  in  the  time  of  the 
manifestation  of  God's  great  mercies  towards  this  nation, 
which  has  occasioned  a  most  seasonable  harvest. 


OF    FRANCE. 


119 


2.  To  crave  mercy  for  the  universal  ingratitude  of  this  na- 
tion, for  the  Lord's  great  mercies  and  wonders  manifested 
towards  us. 

3.  To  crave  a  blessing  on  the  great  meetings  and  commit- 
tees to  be  held  in  this  nation,  for  the  settling  of  the  great 
matters  and  affairs  which  are  not  yet  ended  by  the  Parlia- 
ment. 

4.  For  seeking  help  and  support  from  heaven  to  the  dis- 
tressed Christians  in  Ireland,  holden  under  the  tyranny  of 
their  enemies,  the  Papists,  there,  and  that  the  enemy's  forces 
may  be  weakened. 

5.  Out  of  compassion  of  the  Palatinate  (that  is,  of  the 
Christians  in  part  of  Germany,)  that  the  Lord  would  pity 
their  distressed  estate,  extirpate  the  enemy  out  of  the  same, 
and  plant  again  the  glorious  Gospel  there,  where  once  it  had 
a  flourishing  estate. 

Another  fast  was  held  on  the  1st  of  May  1642,  the  rea- 
sons of  which  follow.  They  are  taken  from  the  Session 
Records  of  Dunfermline : — 

1.  Our  former  sins  still  prevailing,  and  our  unthankfulness 
for  the  marvellous  mercies  of  God,  in  establishing  our  re- 
ligion and  liberties,  and  preserving  our  lives  in  the  midst  of 
so  many  dangers,  contrary  to  the  desires  and  designs  of  our 
adversaries,  above  our  own  expectation,  and  to  the  admira- 
tation  of  the  world. 

2.  Our  carelessness  in  remembering  and  observing  our 
solemn  promises  and  vows,  made  in  our  covenant  in  the  time 
of  our  distress  and  fears. 

3.  Our  lukewarmness  and  indisposition  in  the  exercises  of 
religion,  both  in  private  and  public;  many  pleasing  them- 
selves in  the  mere  formalities  of  religion,  and  no  change  nor 
reformation  observed  in  the  multitude. 

4.  The  heavy  afflictions  still  pressing  the  kirks  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  desolations  of  the  Palatinate,  as  if  that  cause 
were  buried  and  quite  forgotten. 

As  these  reasons  of  fasting  are  exceedingly  interesting  and 
indicative  of  the  religious  spirit  of  the  times,  I  shall  quote 
anoiher  series,  and  I  do  so  the  more,  that  they  are  taken  from 
MS.  records,  which,  so  far  as  I  know,  have  never  been  pub- 
lished. 

On  the  31st  December  1643,  intimation  was  made  of  a 
fast,  to  be  held  on  the  succeeding  Sabbath,  and  the  Wednes- 
day following,  "  through  the  haill  kirks  of  Scofland;" — 

1.  Because  of  our  manifold  addresses  to  God  on  like  oc- 


120  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

casions  of  humiliation,  our  fervent  vows  and  promises  in  pri- 
vate, and  our  solemn  public  covenants  with  God;  yet  we 
have  not  as  we  ought  valued  the  inestimable  benefit  of  the 
Gospel,  nor  laboured  for  the  power  and  purity  thereof;  nor 
have  we  endeavoured  to  receive  Christ  in  our  hearts,  nor  to 
walk  worthy  of  Him  in  our  lives,  which  are  the  causes  also 
of  many  other  sins  and  transgressions  so  much  abounding 
amongst  us. 

2.  The  dangers  threatened  to  (his  kirk  and  kingdom,  and 
the  most  lamentable  distresses  of  our  neighbouring  kirks  and 
kingdoms  of  England  and  Ireland,  by  the  cruel  and  most 
horrid  insolencies  of  Papists — the  prelatical  party  and  their 
adherents  in  these  two  kingdoms,  should  move  us  to  pray  to 
God  for  their  deliverance  from  these  calamities  incumbent 
upon  them,  and  for  our  own  safety  from  these  and  like  im- 
minent dangers  on  ourselves.  . 

3.  That  the  Lord  may  bless  the  travel  of  our  Commission- 
ers wdth  the  Assembly  of  Divines  in  England,  and  the  Par- 
liament of  that  kingdom,  and  all  other  means  that  shall  be 
used  for  the  advancement  of  the  intended  work  of  Reforma- 
tion in  England,  and  the  union  of  the  kingdoms. 

4.  That  we  trust  not,  in  this  expedition,  in  the  arm  of 
flesh ;  but,  putting  our  trust  in  God  the  Lord  of  hosts,  he 
may  go  out  with  our  armies,  and  bless  them,  and  give  an 
happy  success  to  the  undertakings  which  are  for  religion,  his 
majesty's  honour,  and  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  three  king- 
doms; to  the  comfort  and  relief  of  the  distressed  and  op- 
pressed people  of  God,  and  the  confusion  of  the  bloody  and 
malicious  enemy. 

Many  other  cases  might  be  quoted  of  a  similar  character; 
but  let  these  suffice.  It  is  plain  that  only  pious  men  could 
have  resolved  upon,  and  djrawn  up,  such  documents.  They 
indicate  a  tenderness  as  to  sin  which  remind  one  of  the  best 
days  of  the  Jewish  Church.  It  was  because  their  moral 
standard  was  high,  that,  after  all  their  attainments,  they  still 
complained  and  confessed  that  their  sins  were  so  many  and 
deep. 

And  what  was  the  moral  result  of  all  these  plans  and  pro- 
ceedings? There  was  a  general  prevalence  of  true  religion, 
and  occasional  revivals  in  particular  districts,  attended  with 
the  best  consequences  to  individuals,  families,  and  the  com- 
munity at  large.  It  is  a  striking  proof  of  the  religious  know- 
ledge and  sound  principle  which  prevailed  in  Scotland,  that 
the  Sectaries,  though  they  made  such  destructive  progress 


OP     FRANCE.  121 

in  England,  had  few  converts,  and  acquired  no  influence  in 
this  country;  and  that  though  Cromwell's  army  of  thirty 
thousand  men,  chiefly  composed  of  Sectarians,  was  stationed 
in  Scotland,  and  many  of  the  soldiers,  oflScers,  and  others, 
preached,  some  of  them  in  their  uniform,  with  their  swords 
hanging  by  their  sides.  So  early  as  1625,  there  were  re- 
markable manifestations  of  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  at 
Stewarton,  under  the  preaching  of  Blair  and  others — as  to 
which  we  have  the  testimony  of  so  able  a  judge  as  the  cele- 
brated Robert  Boyd.  "  Having  conferred  both  with  men 
and  women,"  it  is  said,  "  he  heartily  blessed  God  for  the 
grace  of  God"  in  their  conversion.  Similar  manifestations 
appeared  at  Shotts,  under  the  preaching  of  Livingstone;  and 
afterwards  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  where  both  Blair  and  Liv- 
ingstone were  settled  for  a  season.  There  the  work  of  religi- 
ous revival  was  very  extensive.  So  hateful  was  it  to  the 
bishops  in  Scotland,  that  they  pursued  Livingstone  with  their 
hostility — fully  as  much  for  his  fanaticism,  as  they  were 
pleased  to  account  it,  as  for  his  opposition  to  Prelacy.  At  a 
later  day,  under  the  iron  rule  of  Cromwell,  there  were  deci- 
ded symptoms  of  revival  in  various  parishes.  Livingstone 
says,  "About  two  or  three  years  after  the  English  had  in  a 
manner  subdued  the  land,  there  began  some  reviving  of  the 
work  of  God.  In  several  parts  sundry  were  brought  in  by 
the  ministry  of  the  Word ;  among  which  there  were  some 
also  in  the  parish  of  Ancrum,  and  other  parts  of  the  South. 
In  Teviotdale  and  the  Merse,  communions  were  very  lively 
and  much  frequented.  We  had  several  monthly  meetings 
in  these  two  shires."  He  mentions  the  names  of  ten  leading 
families  eminent  for  their  religion;  and  adds,  that  he  has 
often  been  refreshed  at  religious  exercises  in  their  houses, 
and  at  communions  which  they  attended.  As  a  proof  of 
their  piety  and  liberality,  he  mentions,  that  a  motion  being 
made  at  one  communion  about  Christians  honouring  God 
with  their  substance,  the  persons  referred  to,  with  a  few 
others,  agreed  to  subscribe  an  annual  sum,  amounting  to  £50 
sterling — a  considerable  sum  in  those  days — to  be  employed 
on  distressed  Christians  and  in  educating  hopeful  youth  in 
learning.  Alluding  to  the  same  period,  and  the  unhappy 
contention  between  the  Protesters  and  Resolutioners,  the 
writer  of  Blair's  Memoirs  relates — "Yet  notwithstanding, 
through  the  Lord's  wonderful  condescension,  these  bitter 
waters  were  sweetened  by  his  blessing  remarkably  the  la- 
bours of  his  faithful  servants.     This  was  the  case  not  only 


122  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

at  St.  Andrews  and  at  Cupar,  Forgen,  Dunbog^,  Ceres,  Kem- 
back,  Scoonie,  and  other  places,  where  Mr.  Blair  assisted  on 
communion  occasions,  but  in  several  other  places  through  the 
land ;  and  even  in  some  places  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland, 
a  great  door  and  effectual  was  opened  to  many." 

But  while  I  thus  refer  to  indubitable  proofs  of  the  lively 
Christianity  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  during  her  war  with 
Charles,  and  throughout  the  Protectorate,  and  while  the 
general  testimony  of  contemporary  historians  could  be  ap- 
pealed to  in  behalf  of  the  same  pleasing  truth,  I  am  far  from 
supposing  that  all  her  public  proceedings  were  unexceptiona- 
ble, or  that  the  country,  as  a  whole,  was  free  from  sins  and 
crimes.  That  would  be  ascribing  a  degree  of  perfection  to 
the  character  and  conduct  of  Christians  which  is  not  to  be 
looked  for  in  the  present  state  of  things.  There  were,  doubt- 
less, many  heinous  crimes  committed  in  Scotland — crimes 
which,  at  first  sight,  and  with  hasty  writers,  awaken  the  im- 
pression that  the  moral  character  of  the  period  must  have 
been  bad  ;  but  it  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the  sins  to  which 
we  refer  were  always  severely  punished,  which  is  the  just 
indication  of  the  moral  feeling  of  the  community.  It  is  also 
to  be  borne  in  mind,  that  a  state  of  war,  and  the  presence  of 
a  foreign  soldiery,  are  always  injurious  to  the  morals  of  a 
people.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten,  that  such  was  the  power 
and  strict  discipline  of  the  Church,  that  whatever  offences 
were  committed,  were  sure  to  be  made  matters  of  cognisance 
and  record.  It  is  not  improbable,  too,  that  Satan  was  pro- 
voked, by  the  prevailing  good,  to  stir  up  his  agent  to  greater 
wickedness,  to  discredit,  if  possible,  the  cause  of  God.  Un- 
der the  reign  of  James,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  minis- 
ters of  the  Church  were  the  instruments  of  a  great  outward 
reformation.  The  revenge  and  the  feuds  for  which  the  coun- 
try had  been  so  long  and  lamentably  distinguished,  in  a  great 
measure  disappeared.  It  is  related  that  there  was  a  visible 
change  of  this  kind  at  Ayr,  under  the  ministry  of  the  eminent 
John  Welch,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  rushing  into  danger  to 
separate  the  combatants.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  whom  no  one 
will  accuse  of  partiality  to  the  Presbyterian  ministers,  says, 
in  his  History  of  Scotland,  written  in  the  latter  period  of 
his  life,  "  The  clergy  of  that  day  (James  VI.)  were  frequent- 
ly respectable,  from  their  birth  and  connections,  often  from 
their  learning,  and  at  all  times  from  character.  These  quali- 
ties enabled  them  to  interfere  with  effect,  even  in  the  feuds 
of  the  barons  and  gentry;  and  they  often  brought  to  milder 


OF  FRANCE. 


123 


and  more  peaceful  thoughts,  men  who  would  not  have  lis- 
tened to  any  other  intercessors.  There  is  no  doubt  that  these 
good  men,  and  the  Christianity  which  they  taught,  were  the 
principal  means  of  correcting  the  furious  temper  and  revenge- 
ful habits  of  the  Scottish  nation,  in  whose  eyes  bloodshed 
and  deadly  vengeance  had  been  till  then  a  virtue."  And 
with  respect  to  the  later  period  more  immediately  before  us, 
we  have  the  testimony  of  Bishop  Burnet.  Speaking  of  the 
age  of  Cromwell,  he  says,  "There  was  good  justice  done, 
and  vice  was  suppressed  and  punished;  so  that  we  alwajs 
reckon  those  eight  years  of  usurpation  a  time  of  great  peace 
and  prosperity.  The  unhappy  dissensions  and  party  spirit 
among  the  ministers,  under  the  names  of  Resolutioners  and 
Protesters,  were,  of  course,  at  once  unseemly  and  adverse ; 
and  Popery,  doubtless,  made  some  progress,  under  the  guise 
of  Quakerism  and  other  sects  which  Cromwell's  army  in- 
troduced ;  and  the  prohibition  of  the  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly  for  years,  which  might  have  repressed  disorders; 
these  things  were  all  injurious  to  the  moral  and  religious 
character  of  the  nation ;  but  still,  after  making  every  abate- 
ment, no  candid  student  of  the  period  which  we  have  been 
reviewing,  can  question  that  there  was  a  vast  amount  of  the 
power  of  true  religion  in  the  land,  and  that  it  would  be  a 
happy  day  for  Britain  which  witnessed  its  revival. 

In  concluding  this  period,  I  may,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Protestant  Church  of  France,  just  allude  to  the  leading  min- 
isters. They  were  eminent  for  their  talents,  learning,  and 
devoted  zeal.  Much  did  many  of  them  sacrifice  and  suffer 
for  Christ  and  for  his  Church.  Such  names  as  the  following 
would  have  done  honour  to  any  Church.  Indeed  few,  if  any, 
Christian  Churches  of  the  same  limited  extent,  could,  in  the 
same  period,  point  to  higher  or  more  estimable  names  than 
Andrew  Melville,  Robert  Boyd,  John  Welch,  Patrick  Simp- 
son, Robert  Bruce,  David  Calderwood,  Robert  Blair,  David 
Dickson,  Alexander  Henderson,  Robert  Baillie,  Robert  Doug- 
las, Samuel  Rutherford,  John  Livingstone,  George  Gillespie, 
James  Durham,  Hugh  Binning,  Andrew  Gray,  Alexander 
Nisbet,  James  Fergusson,  George  Hutchison,  the  Guthries, 
William  and  James,  and  many  others.  I  might  dwell  upon 
the  special  merits  of  each,  and  their  rare  combinations.  I 
might  show  how  the  same  man  who  was  honoured  of  God 
to  stand  at  the  head  of  a  religious  revival,  which  gathered  in 
five  hundred  souls  to  the  fold  of  Christ,  was  eminent  as  an 
oriental  scholar,  and  was  among  the  first  to  conceive  the  idea 


124 


PROTESTANT  CHURCH 


of  a  Polyglot  Bible,  and  to  amend  the  Latin  versions  of  the 
Old  Testament.  How  another,  who  held  a  prominent  place 
in  the  learned  controversies  and  public  business  of  his  time, 
was  the  author  of  a  volume  of  Letters,  whose  piety  and  pro- 
found spiritual  experience  have  converted  it  into  one  of  the 
treasured  books  of  the  Christian  Church  in  all  subsequent 
times.  I  might  refer  also  to  the  rare  qualifications  of  the 
Scottish  clerical  commissioners  to  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
men  whose  learning  and  acuteness  in  debate,  and  wisdom  in 
council,  and  power  in  preaching,  were  the  admiration  of  that 
famous  Assembly,  and  of  the  most  eminent  Christians  in 
England.  I  might  refer  to  the  influence  which  they  exerted 
on  English  Presbyterianism,  a  Presbyterianism  which  after- 
wards showed  its  sincerity  and  strength  in  the  sacrifice  of 
two  thousand  church  livings  in  a  single  day.  But  I  have  been 
betrayed  too  far  from  the  work  in  hand  already,  and  this 
would  betray  me  still  further.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  pro- 
vidence and  grace  of  God  were  remarkably  conspicuous,  in 
raising  up  men  worthy  of  his  cause,  and  meet  for  the  trying 
times  in  which  thev  lived. 


SECTION  I. 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  FRANCE  AND  SCOTLAND  ENCOURAGE  KNOWLEDGE. 

1.  One  of  the  first  and  most  interesting  features  with  which 
one  is  struck,  in  contemplating  the  early  Protestant  Church 
of  France,  at  this   period,   is  the  warm  encouragement 

WHICH  SHE  lent  TO  THE    PREPARATION   AND  PUBLICATION  OF 

GOOD  BOOKS.  The  Church  of  Rome  had  been  the  great  ene- 
my of  the  press ;  but  the  Protestants  had  nothing  to  fear  from 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge.  In  early  days  they  had  expe- 
rienced the  value  of  printing  to  their  cause,  and  had  published 
tracts  against  Popery,  serious  and  humorous,  to  a  considera- 
ble extent,  and  with  great  success.  The  Queen  of  Navarre, 
with  the  ladies  of  her  court,  had,  even  through  tapestry,  re- 
presenting a  fox's  head  looking  out  from  under  a  monk's 
cowl,  and  other  devices,  dealt  some  hard  blows  at  the  Church 
of  Rome;  and  so,  when  the  Protestant  Church  became  more 
consolidated,  she  did  not  fail  to  work  the  press.  It  were  well 
that  the  Protestant  Churches  of  modern  times  acted  more 
largely  on  the  same  principle.  It  is  certain  that  the  opposing 
force  of  infidelity  has  owed  almost  all  its  success  to  the  un- 
wearied plying  of  the  press.     And  the  interests  of  religion 


OF    FRANCE.  125 

seem  too  sacred  to  be  left  to  random  advocates  or  interested 
politicians. 

Like  pious  men,  the  Protestant  ministers  of  France  sought 
to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  what  God  had  done  in  their 
behalf.  So  early  as  1603,  the  thirteen  provinces  into  which 
the  Protestant  Church  was  divided,  are  charged  to  collect  the 
memoirs  of  those  remarkable  events  which  had  taken  place 
in  the  course  of  the  previous  fifty  years,  and  to  transmit  them 
to  Monsieur  D'Aubigny,  to  be  inserted  by  him  in  the  history 
which  he  was  writing.  Nine  years  later,  the  same  provinces 
are  exhorted  carefully  to  collect  the  history  of  those  minis- 
ters and  other  Christians,  who,  "  in  these  last  times,  have 
suffered  for  the  truths  of  the  Son  of  God,"  and  to  transmit 
them  to  Geneva,  to  be  inserted  in  the  Book  of  Martyrs,  and 
be  published  by  the  pastors  of  that  Church.  In  compliance 
with  this  exhortation,  we  read  that  the  deputies  of  Bearn 
brought  with  them  the  history  of  the  martyrs  of  that  pro- 
vince, and  that  it  was  sent  on  to  Geneva,  "to  be  added  to 
the  next  impression  of  our  Martyrology."  It  would  seem 
that  at  this  period  the  Protestants  were  not  permitted  to 
publish,  in  France,  the  account  of  their  martyrs ;  and  hence, 
sooner  than  lose  the  memory  of  those  they  so  sacredly  re- 
vered, they  had  recourse  to  Geneva.  So  impressed  were 
they  with  the  importance  of  such  an  undertaking,  that  in  the 
last  General  Assembly  which  sat,  in  1659,  ministers  are 
blamed  for  not  sufficiendy  attending  to  this  express  article  of 
ecclesiastical  appointment ;  and  all  provinces  and  particular 
churches  are  required  to  keep  an  exact  record  of  memorable 
events  connected  with  the  Protestant  religion,  and  to  send 
them,  "  by  a  careful  hand,"  to  the  person  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  compile  them  into  a  volume.  Nay,  a  particular 
pastor  is  nominated  in  every  province,  to  whom  the  account 
of  these  remarkable  providences  was  to  be  directed.  Such 
care  as  this  was  at  once  a  proper  expression  of  gratitude  to 
God  for  his  distinguishing  goodness  to  the  Church,  and  also 
an  important  mean  of  preventing  that  misapprehension  or 
misrepresentation  to  which  Church  history  is  too  frequently 
exposed  in  the  hands  of  the  mere  worldly  historian.  How 
much  error,  as  to  the  early  history  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, might  have  been  prevented  or  neutralized,  had  the 
Church  more  carefully  collected  and  preserved  the  memorials 
of  her  most  prominent  events. 

But  it  was  not  about  her  own  history  alone  that  the  Church 
of  France  discovered  so  much  interest.     She  encouraged  va- 


126  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

rious  theological  works,  and,  among  others,  a  history  of  the 
persecuted  Albigensian  and  Waldensian  Christians,  by  M. 
Perrin.  He  is  entreated  to  finish  his  history  of  their  true 
condition;  and  all  having  memoirs  of  the  "doctrine,  disci- 
pline, or  persecution  of  these  poor  saints  of  Christ,"  are 
charged  to  transmit  them  with  all  diligence  and  care.  Two 
years  after,  a  draught  of  the  history  was  laid  before  the  Sy- 
nod, and  warmly  approved,  and  five  of  the  brethren  were  ap- 
pointed to  assist.  At  the  same  time,  the  Synod  agreed  to 
aid  in  bearing  his  great  expenses  in  books,  and  in  bringing 
out  the  first  impression.  This  shoAvs  how  warm  was  the 
interest  which  one  Protestant  Church,  in  those  days,  took  in 
the  welfare  of  another,  and  how  anxious  that  of  France  was 
to  vindicate  the  character  of  the  unjustly  aspersed.  There 
were  many  similar  cases  of  encouragement  to  authors.  The 
thanks  of  the  Synod  of  Tonniers  was  given  to  the  Rev.  An- 
drew Rivet  for  his  learned  works  against  the  adversaries  of 
the  truth,  and  six  hundred  livres  out  of  the  common  stock  of 
all  the  churches  were  awarded,  "  as  a  testimony  of  love  and 
honour;"  while  M.  Blondel,  an  eminent  minister  of  the 
Church,  "  because  his  great  excellency  lieth  in  Church  His- 
tory and  antiquity,  he  is  earnestly  desired  to  follow  his  geni- 
us, and  to  combat  and  confute  the  adversaries  with  that  wea- 
pon." One  thousand  livres  are  awarded  him  to  buy  books; 
and  the  Synod  promise  to  defray  the  charges  of  the  first  edi- 
tion of  his  works.  A  Scotchman  of  the  name  of  George 
Thomson,  who  was  a  minister  of  the  French  Church,  re- 
ceived in  the  same  way  three  hundred  livres,  to  assist  in 
printing  a  book  in  French,  on  the  Romish  controversy.  Mr. 
Daniel  Chamier,  a  still  more  eminent  controversial  writer, 
was  requested  to  print  three  large  volumes  of  his  works  at 
once,  and  two  thousand  livres  were  advanced  by  the  Church 
as  a  compensation  for  his  labour.  So  highly  were  his  works 
valued,  that  the  Synod  of  Vitre  entered  into  a  bargain  with 
the  printer  about  their  publication,  and  advanced  eight  thou- 
sand livres  for  that  end,  anxious  that  the  book  should  be  sold 
"  unto  the  pastors  of  our  Church  at  a  very  moderate  price, 
and  reserving  always  twelve  complete  copies  to  be  presented 
unto  their  revered  and  learned  author,  free  of  all  costs  and 
charges  whatsoever."  The  character  of  those  works  shows 
how  sound  the  Church  was  on  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel, as  opposed  to  the  errorrs  of  Popery,  and  how  desirous 
of  spreading  abroad  the  truth  as  it  is  in  tlhrist.  Chamier 
dying  before  his  work  was  completed,  several  of  the  most 


OF    FRANCE.  127 

eminent  ministers  were  appointed,  in  1645,  to  finish  it  at  the 
public  expense.  Various  other  works  were  undertaken  and 
encouraged  in  the  same  way;  such  as  Drelincourt's,  and  the 
answers  to  Cardinal  Baronius'  Corruptions  of  History,  and 
to  Bellarmine,  the  great  advocate  of  Rome.  But  we  have 
time  to  refer  only  to  one,  that  of  the  Lord  Du  Plessis,  on  the 
Eucharist.  The  author  was  a  most  eminent  layman,  the 
Governor  of  Saumur,and  the  Church  manifested  the  deepest 
interest  in  his  work.  It  would  seem  that  he  had  consulted 
the  Synod  assembling  at  Gergeau,  in  1601,  about  the  publi- 
cation; for  they  write — "  We  advise  him  to  send  his  book 
unto  Geneva,  because  of  the  advantage  of  libraries;  and  let- 
ters shall  be  sent  to  our  brethren,  the  pastors  there,  recom- 
mending to  them  the  examination  and  the  verifying  of  all  the 
quotations  in  it."  Two  years  after,  we  find,  that  the  pas- 
tors and  professors  at  Geneva  gave  their  very  honourable  tes- 
timony, and  the  National  Synod  rendered  their  hearty  thanks 
to  his  lordship,  for  his  great  zeal  and  affection  for  the  truth 
of  God,  and  for  his  worthy  labours  in  its  defence.  At  the 
same  time,  they  order  it  "  to  be  printed  out  of  hand,  believ- 
ing that  the  Lord  will  give  his  blessing  to  it."  The  Jesuits 
of  Bordeaux  were  so  incensed,  that  they  petitioned  the  Par- 
liament of  that  town  publicly  to  condemn  it  to  the  flames — 
a  request  which  it  does  not  appear  was  complied  with.  Ma- 
ny and  important  were  the  services  which  Du  Plessis  ren- 
dered to  the  Protestant  cause.  In  1590  he  built  a  church  for 
the  Protestants  of  Saumur,  and  obtained  a  grant  from  the 
King  (Henry  IV.)  for  instituting  a  university  there,  which 
was  afterwards  carried  into  eflect.  He  wrote  an  earnest  re- 
monstrance to  the  king  on  the  change  of  his  religion,  entreat- 
ing, at  the  same  time,  the  continuance  of  his  favour  to  the 
Protestants.  He  was  instrumental  in  healing  a  controversy 
between  Du  Moulin  and  Tilenus,  of  the  University  of  Sedan, 
upon  the  effect  of  the  union  of  the  natures  in  Christ;  and  he 
so  intimidated  Cardinal  Du  Perron,  by  his  knowledge  of  the 
Romish  controversy,  that  the  Cardinal,  though  urged  by  the 
king,  was  unwilling  to  encounter  him,  pleading,  as  an  apolo- 
gy, that  he  was  "  waiting  for  some  manuscripts  from  Rome" 
— an  expression  which  the  king  came  afterwards  to  apply  as 
a  proverb  to  those  who  made  idle  excuses,  saying,  "  I  see 
you  stay  for  manuscripts  from  Rome  too." 

The  Protestant  Church  of  France,  however,  did  not  only, 
by  all  wise  means,  encourage  the  publication  of  important 
works;  she  took  steps  for  the  collecting  of  books  into  libra- 


128  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

ries,  and  for  informing  her  ministers  and  students  of  their 
contents.  Among  express  articles  of  discipline  in  1601,  we 
find  the  following : — "  Richer  churches  and  great  lords  are 
entreated  to  erect  libraries  for  the  benefit  of  their  ministers 
and  proposans,-'  that  is,  candidates  for  the  ministry.  The 
same  call  is  earnestly  repeated  six  years  later ;  and  it  is  not 
only  the  churches  which  are  addressed ;  the  Protestant  uni- 
versities are  exhorted  to  do  their  utmost  to  obtain  a  public 
library,  "and,  in  particular,  the  King  of  Spain's  Bible  in 
many  languages,  printed  at  Antwerp."  This  was  in  1603, 
when  books  were  scarce,  and  expensive,  and  w^hen  ministers 
were  poor.  It  is  interesting  to  see  that  a  Polyglot  Bible  was 
the  book,  above  all  others,  which  the  poor  persecuted  Pro- 
testant Churches  of  France  wished  to  stand  conspicuous  in 
their  university  library.  It  showed  at  once  their  love  of 
learning,  and  of  the  Scriptures,  and  so  was  not  an  inapt  type 
of  their  true  character  at  that  early  period. 

It  may  not  be  unsuitable  to  inform  our  readers,  that  the 
fine  spirit  of  knowledge,  and  the  wise  encouragement  of  theo- 
logical learning,  which  marked  the  Protestant  Church  of 
France,  was  shared  by  the  Church  of  Scodand  in  her  early 
days,  and  manifested  in  a  similar  manner.  I  shall  give  a  few 
illustrations: — Wodrow,  in  his  MS.  Collections  of  Lives  of 
the  Reformers,  published  by  the  Maidand  Club  in  1830,  re- 
lates, in  his  account  of  Erskine  of  Dun,  that,  in  1574,  the 
General  Assembly  sent  commissioners  to  the  Regent,  inform- 
ing him,  that  they  understood,  on  good  authority,  that  a 
French  printer,  of  best  renown  next  to  Henry  Stephens,  had 
been  banished,  with  his  wife  and  family,  from  the  kingdom, 
and  would  be  glad  to  come  to  Scodand,  and  bring  three  thou- 
sand francs  of  books  along  with  him,  and  would  print  what- 
ever he  was  commanded  by  the  Church;  moreover,  that  not 
a  book  should  be  printed  in  France  or  Germany,  but  that  it 
should  be  obtained  by  him,  simply  on  the  condidon,  that  the 
General  Assembly  would  insure  him  three  hundred  merks  a 
year.  It  is  added,  the  offer  is  "  so  comfortable  to  the  kirk 
and  country,  that  it  ought  not  to  be  overseen" — a  plain  indi- 
cation of  the  literary  taste  of  the  Church,  whether  she  were 
able  to  avail  herself  of  the  proposal  or  not.  Some  years  be- 
fore, the  well  known  Robert  Pont  translated  a  Confession  of 
Faith  of  the  foreign  Churches.  It  is  called  the  latter  Con- 
fession of  Helvetia,  and  is  subscribed  by  die  Tigurines  and 
the  Protestants  of  Berne,  SchaflThausen,  Sangallia,  Milan, 


OF    FRANCE.  129 

Vienes,  Geneva,  Savoy,  Polonia,  and  Hungary.  The  As- 
sembly highly  approve  of  the  work  and  order  it  to  be  print- 
ed. As  we  may  be  sure  that  the  Church  of  Scotland  would 
not  have  printed  this  work  with  her  public  sanction,  unless 
her  own  sentiments  had  accorded  with  those  of  the  foreign 
Ciiurches,  the  fact  of  the  publication  is  a  proof  of  the  harmo- 
ny of  the  early  Protestant  Churches.  The  only  parts  which 
the  Church  of  Scotland  disapproved  were  those  which  re- 
cognised holidays — such  as  the  nativity,  circumcision,  &c. 
Hence,  she  sometimes  held  the  meeting  of  her  Assembly  on 
the  25ih  December  (Christmas-day,)  instead  of  observing  it 
as  a  sacred  day. 

In  1598,  Principal  Sharp  of  Glasgow  drew  up  Lessons  on 
the  catechism  and  heads  of  religion.  This  work  the  Assem- 
bly ordered  to  be  printed,  deeming  it  "  necessary  and  profit- 
able." Thus  the  Church  indicated  her  concern  for  the  in- 
struction  of  the  young,  as  well  as  for  the  literary  improve- 
ment of  her  ministers.  In  four  years  after,  she  appointed 
six  of  her  most  learned  men  to  revise  Mr.  John  Howison's 
Work,  in  three  volumes,  against  the  Popish  champion  Bel- 
larmine,  and  then  to  print  it,  thinking  "  it  may  be  profitable 
to  the  Kirk  of  God."  At  a  later  day,  (1642,)  a  Lord  Scot- 
starvet,  like  the  late  Sir  John  Sinclair,  seems  to  have  endeav- 
oured to  get  up  a  statistical  account  of  Scodand.  The  min- 
ister of  each  parish  was  to  furnish  him  with  information. 
The  Church  countenanced  the  undertaking,  and  promised 
assistance.  I  find  that  the  Synod  of  Fife,  "  considering  the 
worthiness  of  the  work  tending  to  the  honour  of  the  nation," 
appointed  the  ministers  within  its  bounds  to  fulfil  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  General  Assembly.  This  surely  showed  a  pa- 
triotic as  well  as  literary  taste ;  and  is  the  more  wonderful, 
when  it  is  remembered  that,  at  this  period,  the  Church  was 
struggling  in  open  war  for  the  very  lives  of  her  members. 
Three  years  thereafter,  in  the  height  of  the  contest,  we  find 
the  General  Assembly  recommending  the  Hebrew  Grammar 
of  Mr.  John  Row,  the  grandson  of  the  Reformer.  Every 
minister  is  exhorted  to  possess  himself  of  a  copy,  in  order  to 
promote  "the  increase  of  the  first  language;"  so  that  the 
Church  did  not  neglect  even  Oriental  and  Biblical  literature, 
at  the  very  time  that  she  was  raising  troops  and  sending  them 
forth  for  the  defence  of  the  civil  and  religious  liberties  of  the 
nation.  At  a  still  later  day,  (1658,)  it  appears  that  the  Pres- 
bytery of  St.  Andrews,  having  seen  and  considered  a  little 
book  of  Dr.  Colvile's,  lately   put  to  press,  they  earnestly 

9 


130  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

request  him  to  publish  more  of  the  same  kind.  It  seems  to 
have  been  a  Latin  disquisition  on  James  iv.  5,  and,  of  course 
was  intended  for  the  learned.  Travelling  no  further  back 
than  the  beginning  of  last  century,  we  meet  with  perpetual 
recommendations  of  good  books  by  the  General  Assembly. 
In  1708,  a  Mr.  Semple,  the  minister  of  Liberton,  is  encour- 
aged to  write  the  History  of  the  Church  of  ScoUand,  and 
all  Presbyteries  are  enjoined  to  favour  him  with  materials 
and  assistance.  About  the  same  period,  a  sum  of  money  is 
voted  to  a  minister  engaged  in  writing  a  Commentary  on  the 
Scriptures.  The  excellent  works  of  Binning,  a  faithful  min- 
ister of  the  Church,  who  died  when  a  young  man,  were  re- 
commended by  the  Assembly  of  1704,  and  sums  of  money 
were  repeatedly  voted  to  his  family,  out  of  respect  to  the 
father.  Wodrow's  History  was  not  only  recommended,  but 
it  appears  that,  in  1742,  ^630  were  paid  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Wodrow,  of  Eastwood,  for  manuscripts.  Directions  were 
given  to  obtain  the  manuscript  writings  of  the  eminent  Sam- 
uel Rutherford  on  Esther  and  Isaiah;  and  a  Mr.  Currie, 
minister  of  Kinglassie,  was  presented  with  ^660  fur  his  able 
Vindication  of  the  Church.  The  works  of  Poole,  at  least 
his  Annotations,  Durham,  Flavel,  P.  Gillespie  on  the  Cove- 
nants, Spalding  on  the  Sacraments,  Blackwell's  Methodus 
Evungelicus,  &c.,  are  all  recommended.  Nor  was  the  re- 
commendation confined  to  books  strictly  theological.  Other 
works,  such  as  M'Colin's  Dictionary,  Sir  Nicolas  Trot  on 
Oriental  Learning,  Maidand's  History  of  Scotland,  meet 
with  the  same  encouragement.  Nay,  like  the  Protestant 
Church  of  France,  steps  were  taken  for  every  Presbytery 
enjoying  the  benefit  of  a  library.  This  was  strongly  recom- 
mended in  1727;  and  it  is  well  known,  that  in  the  beginning 
of  that  century,  not  fewer  than  one  hundred  libraries  were 
sent  down  from  London,  chiefly  for  the  use  of  the  Highlands 
and  Islands. 

It  is  remarkable  how  similar  are  the  plans  pursued  by  good 
men,  in  difierent  countries  and  periods,  in  doing  good,  and 
that  without  any  concert.  It  would  seem,  that  the  same  evils 
suggest  the  same  remedies;  and  doubtless  all  good  men  are 
under  the  guidance  of  one  and  the  same  good  Spirit.  Most 
of  the  facts  to  which  1  have  referred,  are  passed  over  by 
civil  or  ecclesiastical  historians,  as  too  minute;  but  the  real 
character  of  a  Church  may,  like  the  real  character  of  an  in- 
dividual, be  better  learned  from  the  little  minute  proceedings 
of  ordinary  life,  than  from  greater  events,  in  which  motives 


OF    FRANCE.  131 

are  generally  much  more  mixed.  Though  there  were  parti- 
cular circumstances  in  the  history  both  of  France  and  Scot- 
land, which  demanded,  on  the  part  of  their  Churches,  a 
special  attention  to  tlie  culture  of  knowledge  and  learning — 
though  authors  are  not  now  so  dependent  on  the  recommen- 
dations, whether  of  individuals  or  corporate  bodies,  for  their 
success,  as  they  were  of  old — still  there  can  be  little  question 
that  a  great  deal  might  be  done  by  the  General  Assembly  and 
other  Church  courts,  in  aiding  and  encouraging  well  qualified 
men  in  the  prosecution  of  particular  studies,  and  in  the 
defence  of  assailed  truth,  whether  by  public  thanks,  or  re- 
wards, or  more  substantial  assistance ; — and  now  that  the  in- 
fluence of  the  press  is  so  predominant,  the  call  to  such  mea- 
sures is  the  more  urgent. 

SECTION  II. 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  FRANCE  AND  SCOTLAND  SHOW  LOVE  FOR  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

The  period  of  history  at  present  under  consideration 
stretches  from  1596  to  1660.  This  was  the  chief  period 
during  which  the  Protestant  Church  enjoyed  the  protection 
of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  poor  and  imperfect  as  that  protection 
often  was.  I  am  noticing-  the  most  interesting  points  in  the 
character  and  proceedings  of  the  Church  throughout  this 
era;  and  in  the  last  section,  referred  to  her  strong  love  of 
theological  and  other  knowledge,  and  anxiety  to  diffuse  it, 
as  evinced  in  her  encouragement  of  the  publication  of  good 
books,  and  collecting  them  into  libraries. 

We  must  now  turn,  for  a  little,  to  the  love  which  she 
SHOWED  FOR  THE  WoRD  OF  GoD.  Already  have  we  seen 
that  the  Reformers  in  France  early  discovered  a  strong  par- 
tiality for  the  Scriptures.  One  of  their  first  steps,  four  and 
twenty  years  before  they  were  publicly  organized  into  a 
Church,  was  to  translate  the  Word  of  God  into  their  native 
tongue ;  and  after  the  dreadful  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
the  Church  encouraged  the  issuing  of  improved  versions, 
both  at  Geneva  and  Rochelle;  and,  under  God,  she  was  very 
much  indebted  to  the  light  thus  diffused,  for  the  measure  of 
success  with  which  she  stood  out  the  dreadful  persecution  to 
which  she  was  subjected.  When  we  look  into  the  period  of 
which  I  at  present  write,  we  find  the  same  love  for  the 
Scriptures,  and  anxiety  to  spread  abroad  their  blessed  know- 
ledge. It  has  been  common,  of  late,  for  the  advocates  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  feeling  how  odious  is  the  position  which 


132  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

their  Church  has  long  occupied  as  the  enemy  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, now  to  turn  round  and  appeal  to  the  various  transla- 
tions which  Roman  Catholics  made  of  the  Word  of  God,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  into  many  European  languages,  even  before 
the  era  of  the  Reformation.  It  is  certain  that  such  transla- 
tions were  occasionally  made,  but  how  often  did  they  con- 
sist of  mere  parts  of  the  Scriptures,  and  in  most  expensive 
forms  ?  How  often  were  they  a  mere  literary  curiosity,  or  a 
Popish  paraphrase?  How  frequently  did  the  translator  and 
the  readers  suffer  for  their  pains?  And  how  certainly  were 
the  body  of  the  people  always  prevented,  alike  by  their  own 
inability  to  read,  and  the  prohibition  of  the  priest,  from  gen- 
erally availing  themselves  of  the  Word  of  Life?  Not  a  few 
were  the  copies  which  were  ignominiously  burned  and  des- 
troyed. Far  different  were  the  spirit  and  conduct  of  the 
Protestant  Churches.  They  were  built  upon  the  Bible,  re- 
joiced in  it,  largely  diffused  it,  and  called  upon  all  to  read  it, 
and  regulate  their  faith  and  practice  accordingly.  Never  did 
they  shrink  from  the  Scriptures,  and  far  less  destroy  them  as 
a  noxious  book.  The  Church  of  France,  in  1603,  complains 
of  the  scarcity  and  dearness  of  the  Bibles  printed  at  Geneva; 
and  the  General  Assembly  write  to  their  brethren  there,  not 
to  take  amiss  that  they  preferred  the  Bibles  of  Rochelle.  So 
zealous  were  the  French  Protestants  in  the  cause  of  Bible 
dissemination,  that  they  appointed  a  standing  printer  and 
publisher;  and,  in  the  year  referred  to,  "  exhort  him  to  has- 
ten a  new  impression,  and  to  vend  it  at  as  low  a  price  as  pos- 
sible." And  why?  That  the  Word  of  God  might  be  acces- 
sible to  all,  to  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich.  What  a  contrast 
to  an  Italian  Popish  version  of  thirteen  volumes,  and  a  Span- 
ish one  of  eighteen  volumes  !  To  make  the  new  French 
version  admit  of  easier  reference,  one  of  the  ministers  is  re- 
quested to  make  "  a  good  index"  to  it.  There  are  few  better 
signs  of  the  religious  improvement  of  Ireland,  at  the  present 
day,  than  the  strong  demand  for  Bibles  with  references,  even 
where  a  common  copy  is  already  possessed.  In  1600,  Ave 
read  of  the  printer  at  Rochelle  bringing  out  a  new  edition  of 
the  Bible  in  a  lesser  form,  "  and  that  might  easily  be  carried 
any  where  in  the  pocket,"  and  of  lists  being  added  of  those 
texts  which  are  most  proper  and  pertinent  for  confirming  the 
truth  and  confuting  error.  And  eight  years  later,  we  read 
of  a  printer  at  Montauban  publishing  an  octavo  New  Testa- 
ment. In  this  last  case,  the  errata  were  so  numerous,  that 
the  Assembly,  justly  jealous  for  the  honour  of  the  Word  of 


OF    FRANCE. 


13: 


God,  and  the  good  of  the  Church,  ordered  the  pastors  to  re- 
call and  cancel  it.  All  these  things  indicate  zeal  for  Bible 
circulation  in  a  right  way.  And  the  general  result  of  the 
translation  and  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  France,  and 
other  nations  generally,  is  well  stated  by  Diodati,  professor 
at  Geneva,  in  a  letter  to  the  French  Church,  asking  their 
permission  for  his  Latin  and  French  translation,  in  the  year 
1637:— 

♦'  Antiquity  reaped  much  fruit  this  way,  as  St.  Augustine 
and  divers  others  have  witnessed;  but  the  Christian  Church 
in  our  days  hath  enjoyed  it  most  abundantly.  For  the  sweet 
odours  dispersed  abroad  by  the  new  translations  of  the  Bible 
in  divers  languages,  within  these  twenty-five  or  thirty  years, 
is  wonderful,  and  they  have  largely  contributed  to  the  edify- 
ing, instruction,  and  confirmation  of  saints.  The  English 
translation,  for  its  great  fidelity  and  clearness,  weareth  a 
shining  crown  of  glory  upon  its  head ;  those  two  German 
ones  of  Piscator  and  Cramerus,  for  their  noble  qualities  and 
conditions,  are  exceeding  useful,  and  have  done  a  great  dea\ 
of  good ;  the  new  Polonian,  made  and  printed  at  the  instance 
of  the  Prince  of  Radzeville,  is  of  that  esteem  to  allure  the 
present  king  of  Poland  to  read  it,  and  to  enamour  him  of  it, 
though  he  be  a  prince  of  a  contrary  religion;  the  new  Dutch 
translation,  which  is  just  now  coming  into  the  world,  sets 
persons  a-longing  for  it,  because  of  the  excellency  of  its 
work,  the  number  and  abilities  of  its  workmen,  the  time 
they  have  spent  in  the  doing  of  it,  and  for  the  great  helps 
the  Lords'  States  General  have  afforded  them  to  effect  it; 
and  the  Old  Testament,  which  is  now  v/orking  off  at  Zurich, 
in  the  purest  Switzer  language,  must  needs  be  of  a  raised 
worth,  by  that  taste  we  had  of  the  New,  which  is  already 
printed  ;  the  new  Spanish  translation  of  Cyprian  de  Vallera 
hath  produced  incredible  effects  in  Spain,  no  less  than  three 
thousand  copies  having  penetrated,  by  secret  ways  and  con- 
veyances, into  the  very  bowels  of  that  kingdom.  Let  others 
publish  the  fruit  of  my  Italian  version  both  in  Italy  and  else- 
where. If  it  were  expedient  and  becoming  me,  I  could 
bring  forth  numerous  examples  of  it,  and  those  also  attested 
by  persons  of  unstained  credit  and  reputation." 

We  have  had  occasion  to  notice  many  interesting  facts  in 
the  history  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  parallel  to  similar 
facts  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  France,  and  the  resem- 
blance does  not  fail  in  the  matter  of  the  Scriptures.  So  early 


134  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

as  1526,  many  copies  of  Tyndale's  version,  which  was  print- 
ed on  the  Continent,  found  their  way  into  Scotland,  and  were 
very  generally  read.  This,  with  the  use  of  other  means,  so 
hastened  on  the  Reformation,  that,  in  the  course  of  seventeen 
years,  the  Parliament  decreed  it  to  be  lawful  to  all  to  read  the 
word  of  God.  Hitherto  it  had  been  death  to  attempt  it;  and 
though  this  act  did  not  secure  a  universal  protection;  though, 
in  spite  of  it,  men  continued  to  be  burnt  by  the  Popish  priests, 
for  no  other  crime  than  possessing  or  reading  the  Scriptures, 
still  the  decision  of  Parliament  was  followed  with  the  best 
effect.  "  Then,"  says  Knox,  "  might  have  been  seen  the  Bible 
lying  almost  upon  every  gentleman's  table.  The  New  'J'esta- 
ment  was  borne  about  in  many  men's  hands."  As  might 
have  been  expected,  under  such  influences,  the  Reformation 
grew  in  strength,  and  in  1560  had  risen  to  such  a  magnitude, 
that  the  Protestant  Church  became  the  recognised  Church  of 
the  country.  In  the  same  year  the  English  exiles  at  Geneva 
made  a  new  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  to  which  many 
valuable  notes  were  appended.  This  version  was  used  by 
Knox,  and  was  circulated  to  a  great  extent,  both  in  England 
and  in  Scotland.  As  printing  had  originated  on  the  Conti- 
tinent,  so  it  could  be  executed  more  cheaply  and  perfectly 
there  than  in  this  country.  Hence,  for  a  long  time,  editions 
of  the  Scriptures,  which  were  chiefly  intended  for  Great 
Britain,  were  printed  in  some  of  the  large  Protestant  conti- 
nental towns,  and  then  imported.  So  early,  however,  as 
1565,  the  Psalms  of  David,  in  Scotch  metre,  issued  from  the 
humble  printing  press  of  Scotland;  and  about  the  same  time 
an  impression  of  the  Geneva  Scriptures,  to  the  extent  of  se- 
ven thousand  copies,  was  carried  to  poor  Popish  Ireland,  and 
sold  in  the  course  of  two  years.  This  shows  how  strong 
was  the  thirst  for  Bible  knowledge  at  that  early  period.  It 
had  been  well  if  it  had  been  nourished  into  growing  power 
through  succeeding  years.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  our 
fathers  not  only  fully  provided  themselves  with  the  Scrip- 
tures, but  in  1567  had  the  Book  of  Common  Order,  with 
Knox's  prayers,  translated  into  Gaelic;  and  Dr.  M'Crie 
doubts  not  that,  in  the  same  century,  they  had  the  Psalms  in 
Gaelic.  One  might  be  ready  to  think  that  books  could  be 
of  little  use  to  a  population  in  the  circumstances  of  the  High- 
landers. It  appears,  however,  from  the  researches  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Lee,  that  reading  and  writing  were  not,  even  at  that 
period,  very  rare  accomplishments  in  Argyleshire,  and  other 
parts  of  the  Highlands,  and  that  the  complaints  were  more 


OF    FRANCE. 


135 


frequent  that  there  were  no  good  books,  than  that  there  were 
not  persons  able  to  read  them.  If  even  the  Gaelic  popula- 
tion formed  thus  early  an  object  of  Christian  care  and  atten- 
tion lo  the  Church,  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  Lowland  popu- 
tion  were  watched  over  with,  if  possible,  still  more  parental 
affection.  Well  as  Scotland  was  supplied  with  the  word  of 
God,  both  from  England  and  the  Continent,  she  would  bring 
out  an  edition  for  herself:  accordingly,  in  1575,  proposals 
were  made,  by  a  printer,  to  the  General  Assembly,  to  pub- 
lish an  edition  of  the  English  Scriptures  from  the  Geneva 
version.  The  Church  cordially  entered  into  the  plan,  and 
by  way  of  encouraging  the  work,  it  was  agreed  that  burghs 
and  parishes  should  advance  money  to  defray  the  expense, 
on  the  understanding  that,  to  those  who  thus  contributed, 
the  Bible,  when  printed,  should  be  cheaper.  Regent  Mor- 
ton subscribed  a  large  sum — not  from  the  public  purse,  for 
no  edition  of  the  Scriptures  was  published  in  Scotland  at  that 
period,  at  the  government  expense,  but  from  the  collections 
of  parishes  ordered  by  the  Church.  Thus  the  first  edition 
of  the  whole  Bible  ever  printed  in  Scotland,  was  published, 
with  a  dedication  to  the  King,  in  1579;  and  it  was  required 
by  Act  of  Parliament,  and  under  a  penalty  of  jEIO,  that  every 
family  should  have  a  Bible  and  a  Psalm-book,  and  search- 
ers were  appointed  to  see  that  this  act  was  carried  into  effect. 
Whatever  some  may  think  of  the  apparent  severity  of  this 
law,  none  can  question  the  zeal  for  the  dissemination  of  the 
word  of  God  which  it  discovers.  Mr.  Robert  Pont  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  General  Assembly,  in  1574,  to  overlook  Ar- 
buthnot's  edition  of  the  Bible,  and  to  form  a  calendar,  which 
was  prefixed  to  it.  His  skill  in  history,  clironology,  and  the 
learned  languages  fitted  him  for  this  work.  During  the  next 
forty-five  years  no  fresh  edition  of  the  whole  Scriptures  is- 
sued from  the  press  of  Scotland;  but  in  1610,  the  same  prin- 
ter republished  the  same  version,  with  the  exception  of  some 
change  on  the  New  Testament,  taken  from  another  version ; 
and  the  Synods  required  every  parish  church  to  have  a  copy, 
under  the  penalty  of  a  fine.  We  must  not  imagine,  how- 
ever, that  these  two  native  editions  supplied  all  the  wants  of 
Scotland  for  nearly  half  a  century.  No;  we  read  of  the 
Scotch  printer  bringing  out  an  JEnglish  edition  with  the 
Scotch  Psalms,  at  Dort,  in  1601,  evidently  for  the  use  of 
our  country,  where  such  Psalms  could  alone  be  in  de- 
mand; and,  in  addition  to  this,  we  have  to  bear  in  mind, 
that  both  in  London  and  on  the  Continent  there  were  a  raul- 


136  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

titude  of  editions  of  the  Psalms  and  Catechisms,  and  the  whole 
Bibles  published  for  the  Scotch  market.  It  is  known  that  there 
were  not  less  than  thirty  editions  of  Buchanan's  Psalms  im- 
ported into  this  country,  during  the  forty-five  years  of  which  I 
speak.  In  the  same  space  of  time,  it  is  estimated,  there  could 
not  be  less  than  one  hundred  editions  of  the  various  translations 
of  the  Bible  printed  in  England,  and  that  not  less  than  twen- 
ty of  these  were  absorbed  by  Scotland;  and  the  number  of 
copies  in  these  editions  w^as  not  small  or  inconsiderable.  It 
appears  that  one  impression,  at  a  later  day,  amounted  to 
nearly  eight  thousand  copies,  and  that  the  demand  for  the 
Psalms  in  metre  was  at  the  rate  of  twenty  thousand  yearly. 
The  annual  copies  of  the  whole  Scriptures  cannot  be  esti- 
mated at  a  much  lower  number,  and  considering  the  compa- 
rative poverty  and  small  population  of  Scotland,  what  an 
idea  do  these  facts  suggest  of  the  religious  spirit  of  our  fa- 
thers, their  devoted  love,  and  unwearied  use  of  the  word  of 
God.  It  is  a  curious  but  interesting  circumstance,  illustra- 
tive of  the  views  which  I  have  been  presenting,  that  in  1637, 
when  there  was  an  open  resistance  to  the  imposition  of  the 
English  service-book,  it  is  said  a  shower  of  small  clasp  Bibles 
followed  the  stool  of  Jenny  Geddes,  amounting,  in  number, 
to  "  whole  pockfuUs," — proving  at  once,  the  indignation  of 
the  people,  and  the  abundance  of  the  Scriptures.  Twenty 
years  afterwards,  we  are  assured  by  Kirkton,  that  "  every 
family  had  a  Bible,  and  was  able  to  read  it;"  and  twenty 
years  again  after  that,  in  days  of  hot  and  intolerable  persecu- 
tion, we  find  the  king's  printer  in  Scotland  bitterly  complain- 
ing of  "great  sums  of  money"  being  daily  expended  upon 
foreign  Bibles,  that  is,  English  Bibles  printed  out  of  Scotland. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  pursue  the  investigation  farther,  with 
reference  to  English  Bibles ;  but  it  may  not  be  uninteresting 
to  mention  a  few  facts,  in  reference  to  the  Scriptures  in  the 
Gaelic  language.  The  Protestant  Church  of  France  had 
only  to  provide  for  one  language,  the  Protestant  Church  of 
Scotland  had  to  provide  for  two.  AVe  have  seen  that  even 
in  the  16th  century  there  is  reason  to  believe  the  Psalms  of 
David  were  circulated  in  the  Gaelic  tongue  ;  and  in  the  middle 
of  the  17th,  about  1650,  we  find  the  Synod  of  Argyle  pub- 
lishing the  first  fifty  Psalms  in  the  same  language.  Twenty- 
seven  years  later,  or  about  1687,  the  Hon.  Robert  Boyle,  of 
London,  a  name  dear  to  every  Christian  heart,  had  the  Irish 
Bible  of  Bishop  Bedell  published  at  his  own  expense,  and 
two  hundred  copies  sent  down  to  the  Highlands,  on  the  con- 


OF    FRANCE. 


137 


ditions  tliat  the  ministers  should  *'  read  some  chapters  every 
Lord's  day  to  the  people,"  and  that  the  Bible  should  be  taken 
care  of  "  as  for  the  use  of  the  parish."  This  reading  of  the 
Word  of  God  excited  great  interest,  so  much  so  that  the 
Bible  travelled  through  different  parts  of  the  parish  during 
the  whole  week,  and  was  restored  upon  the  Saturday  even- 
ing or  the  Sabbath  morning,  that  it  might  be  read  publicly 
to  the  assembled  multitude,  as  a  part  of  divine  worship;  and 
as  a  proof  of  the  salutary  effect  of  even  this  imperfect  diffu- 
sion of  the  knowledge  of  the  Word,  it  may  be  mentioned, 
that  in  the  troubles  which  followed  the  revolution  of  1688, 
in  the  Highlands,  scarcely  any  of  the  natives  who  had  receiv- 
ed Bibles,  or  been  instructed  from  them,  were  implicated  in 
hostility  to  the  Revolution  Settlement. 

Immediately  after  the  revolution  an  impression  of  the  Irish 
or  Gaelic  Bible  was  printed  in  London,  and  3000  copies  of 
the  Bible,  1000  of  the  New  Testament,  and  3000  Catechisms 
transmitted  to  the  care  of  the  agjent  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, for  distribution  in  the  Highlands  and  Islands.  It  is  an 
interesting  fact,  that  £1000  Scots,  or  £83,  6s.  8d.  sterhng, 
were  given  out  of  the  vacant  stipends,  for  binding  the  Gaelic 
Bibles,  and  the  balance,  if  there  were  any,  was  to  be  devoted 
to  the  publication  of  a  new  edition.  The  Rev.  Robert  Kirk, 
of  Aberfoyle,  first  translated  the  Psalms  into  Gaelic  verse,  and 
altered  Bedell's  Bible  from  Irish  to  Gaelic,  and  published  it 
in  Roman  letter  in  1690.  In  1699,  a  fund  was  begun  by 
the  Church  for  printing  another  impression;  and  sixteen 
years  later  there  is  an  earnest  demand,  from  several  places, 
for  more  Bibles,  so  much  so,  that  the  Commission  are  en- 
treated to  do  their  best  endeavour  to  procure  tbem.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Catechisms, 
which  contain  a  large  body  of  Scripture,  were  translated  and 
published.  So  early  as  1708  a  letter  is  written  to  the  Synod 
of  Argyle,  requesting  them  to  undertake  the  work.  Shortly 
after,  a  collection  is  made  to  defray  the  expense ;  and  in 
1714  the  Confession  appeared,  and  ten  years  later  the  two 
Catechisms.  This  was  a  most  important  publication,  and 
quite  in  keeping  with  the  other  exertions  of  the  Church  at 
the  same  period,  to  provide  the  destitute  parts  of  the  High- 
lands and  Islands  with  the  blessings  of  religious  instruction. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  century,  a  work  was  revived  and 
enlarged,  in  which  the  Church  had  been  engaged  many  years 
before.  Bursaries  of  £10  a-year  were  raised  by  the  Synods 
for  the  encouragement  and  support  of  young  men  at  College, 


138 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


having  the  Gaelic  or,  as  it  is  called,  Irish  language.  These 
were  continued  for  four  years  to  each  student,  and  strict  care 
was  taken  not  only  as  to  the  punctual  payment,  but  as  to  the 
real  Gaelic  knowledge  and  acquirements  of  the  young  men 
at  college.  In  1704,  when  the  lowlands  had  come  to  be 
well  supplied  with  ministers,  one-half  of  the  bursaries,  which 
had  served  as  an  encouragement  to  young  men  having  Eng- 
lish, were  transferred  for  the  use  of  those  having  Gaelic. 
About  the  same  period,  the  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propa- 
gating Christian  Knowledge  began  its  inestimably  important 
labours  ;  and  by  the  establishment  of  schools,  the  translation 
of  works  of  practical  divinity,  the  employment  of  catechists, 
and  the  establishment  of  libraries,  was  honoured  to  effect  a 
vast  amount  of  good,  which  eternity  alone  will  be  able  fully 
to  reveal.  Were  it  not  that  I  wish,  at  present,  to  restrict 
the  reader's  attention  to  the  Gaelic  Scriptures,  I  might  men- 
tion many  pleasing  proofs  of  the  zeal,  both  of  the  Church 
and  of  the  Society,  in  attending  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the 
Highlands.  To  recur  to  the  Scriptures :  though  I  have  not 
been  able  to  lay  my  hands  upon  any  document  which  shows 
that  the  Scriptures,  in  the  Gaelic  language,  were  translated, 
in  Scotland,  previous  to  1767;  yet,  from  the  anxiety  dis- 
played in  other  ways,  to  promote  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
Highland  population,  and  the  actual  fact  that  there  were  co- 
pies in  England,  I  cannot  doubt  that  many  were  obtained 
from  London.  The  delay  of  the  new  translation  in  this 
country  seems  to  have  been  owing  to  an  unhappy  idea,  in 
which  even  intelligent  and  good  men  concurred,  after  the 
sad  Popish  rebellions  in  1715  and  1745,  that  it  was  essential 
to  the  civilization  of  the  Highlands,  in  the  first  instance,  to 
abolish  their  language.  Tiiis  impression,  by  no  means  an 
unnatural  one,  of  course,  for  a  time,  postponed  the  transla- 
tion into  Gaelic,  but  gave  new  animation  to  the  efforts  of 
Christians  through  English  channels.  After  trial  for  a  sea- 
son it  was  found  that  this  was  not  the  way  of  getting  rid  of 
the  language,  and  that  the  Christian  instruction,  conveyed 
through  the  medium  of  English,  was  partial  and  imperfect. 
Hence  good  men  recurred  to  the  former  plan  of  reaching  the 
people  through  the  Word  of  God,  translated  into  their  native 
language;  and  in  1767,  the  New  Testament,  translated  by 
the  Rev.  James  Stewart,  of  Killin,  under  the  care  of  the  So- 
ciety in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  was 
published  in  an  edition  of  not  less  than  10,000  copies.  It 
may  be  mentioned  that  the  great  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  heartily 


OF    FRANCE.  139 

approved  of  the  object,  and  encouraged  the  translator  in  his 
important  undertaking.  Thirty  years  after,  a  second  edition 
was  pubhshed  by  the  same  society,  of  course  before  the  days 
of  the  Bible  Society,  amounting  to  the  immense  impression 
of  nearly  22,000  copies,  The  Old  Testament  was  published 
in  parts  as  it  was  translated.  Collected  together,  it  was 
printed  in  1802,  to  the  extent  of  5000  copies;  and  five  years 
afterwards  an  edition  of  20,000.  In  1810  the  Old  Society 
printed  the  New  Testament  anew,  in  an  edition  of  10,000 
copies,  so  that  in  about  forty-nine  years  it  had  been  instru- 
mental, under  God,  in  putting  66,000  copies  of  the  Gaelic 
Scriptures  into  circulation,  without  counting  the  parts  of  the 
Old  Testament,  or  the  editions  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society,  the  latter  of  which  now  came  into  considera- 
ble circulation.  It  is  an  interesting  fact,  that  so  early  as 
1782,  collections  were  made  throughout  the  Church,  and  in 
subsequent  years  repeatedly  renewed,  to  defray  the  expense 
of  the  Gaelic  translation.  In  1816,  it  was  considered  desira- 
ble to  revise  part  of  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament. 
This  was  done;  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  a  quarto 
edition  was  brought  out  under  the  care  of  the  Society  for 
Propagating  Christian  Knowledge  and  a  Committee  of  the 
General  Assembly,  which  for  excellence  is  not  surpassed,  it 
is  understood,  by  most  modern  versions  of  the  Scriptures. 
So  impressed  were  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  with  the  great 
services  which  had  been  rendered  to  the  cause  of  God,  and 
the  moral  and  religious  interests  of  the  Highlands,  by  the 
labours  of  the  late  eminent  Reverend  Dr.  Stewart,  of  Luss, 
son  of  Mr.  Stewart  of  Killin,  as  a  translator  of  the  Gaelic 
Scriptures,  that  in  1820  they  awarded  him  the  sum  of  £1000. 
Previous  to  that  period,  and  since,  various  large  impressions 
of  the  Scriptures  have  been  published  by  the  British  and  Fo- 
reign, and  latterly  by  the  Edinburgh,  Bible  Society ;  and 
instead  of  perpetuating  the  language,  it  is  believed,  that  never 
was  the  anxiety  to  acquire  English  stronger  or  more  general 
in  the  Highlands  than  at  the  present  time. 

Thus  it  appears  that  both  the  Protestant  Church  of  France 
and  the  Protestant  Church  of  Scotland,  were  remarkable  for 
their  love  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  their  anxiety  to  dissemi- 
nate it;  and  what  higher  testimony  could  be  given  in  behalf 
either  of  an  individual  or  a  Church?  Next  to  the  love  of 
God  himself,  what  is  more  beautiful  or  befitting  than  the  love 
of  his  Word.  Indeed  they  are  identical.  Few  tests  of  re- 
ligious character  are  better  or  more  conclusive  than  the  way 


140  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

in  wliich  men  feel  towards  the  Scriptures,  and  in  which  they 
treat  the  Scriptures.  How  often  does  the  Psalmist  tell  us 
of  his  love  for  the  Word  of  God;  and  whatever  scoffers  and 
the  supporters  of  an  apostate  Church  may  allege  to  the  con- 
trary, the  benefits  which  attend  the  wide  and  indiscriminate 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures  are  incalculable.  The  twelve 
million  of  copies  which  have  been  scattered,  during  the  last 
thirty  years,  by  the  Bible  Society,  may  seem  a  vast  number, 
and  some  may  think  there  has  been  no  corresponding  fruit; 
but  could  we  estimate  how  much  evil  has  been  prevented, 
which,  but  for  them,  would  have  burst  forth,  how  much  sub- 
stantial good  has  actually  been  wrought  out,  and  what  trains 
have  been  laid  for  infinitely  more  in  the  future,  no  philan- 
thropist, and  much  more  no  Christian,  could  hesitate  for  a 
moment  to  approve  of,  yea,  to  rejoice  in  the  sacrifice. 

SECTION  III. 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  FRANCE  AND  SCOTLAND  PROMOTE  EDUCATION  AND    THEO- 
LOGICAL LEARNING. 

In  the  last  section,  I  directed  the  reader's  attention  to  the 
love  which  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  showed  for  the 
Word  of  God,  and  the  exertions  she  used  to  disseminate  it 
among  her  people  in  sixty  of  the  years  which  elapsed  be- 
tween the  granting  and  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes; 
in  other  words,  between  1596  and  1660.  I  have  now  to  call 
his  attention  to  the  zeal  which  she  discovered  for  a  sound 

AND  THOROUGH  EDUCATION,  AND  ALSO  THEOLOGICAL  LEARN- 
ING, during  the  same  period. 

From  the  general  difi'usion  of  knowledge  at  the  present 
day,  the  progress  of  art  and  science,  and  the  improved  modes 
of  education  which  have  lately  been  introduced,  we  are  apt 
to  imagine  that  the  present  is  the  only  age  in  which  the 
claims  of  knowledge  are  understood,  and  to  look  with  dis- 
paragement upon  the  attainments  of  all  former  periods;  but 
such  an  impression  is  unjust  and  erroneous.  Of  course, 
from  the  very  nature  of  tlie  case,  the  past  cannot  compete 
with  the  present  in  the  diffusion  of  the  same  kind  of  know- 
ledge; but  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  the  early  Protestant  and 
Presbyterian  Churches  showed  as  enlightened  an  apprecia- 
tion of  the  value  of  knowledge,  and,  according  to  their  cir- 
cumstances, made  as  great  sacrifices  to  spread  it  abroad,  as 
any  of  its  friends  in  modern  times.      Every  sensible  and 


OF    FRANCE.  141 

pious  man,  in  whatever  age  he  lives,  must  wish  the  Scrip- 
tures of  truth  to  be  universally  known;  and  he  can  scarcely 
do  so,  without  valueing  the  other  works  of  God,  and  wishing 
a  knowledge  of  them  to  be  widely  diffused.  All  God's 
works  are  connected  together,  and  reflect  mutual  light  and 
fresh  illustrations  on  each  other.  The  reason  why  general 
knowledge  was  not  so  widely  communicated  in  former  as 
in  present  times,  is  not  that  Christian  men  were  indifferent 
about  it,  but  that  it  did  not  exist.  Had  it  been  accessible, 
such  was  the  estimation  in  which  it  was  held,  it  would  have 
been  diffused;  but  no  science  can  be  propagated  till  it  is 
established  and  ascertained.  In  defect  of  knowlege  as  to 
existing  things,  our  ancestors  betook  themselves  and  their 
children  to  the  knowledge  of  the  past,  and  dealt  in  the  study 
of  antiquity  to  a  degree  in  which  they  far  surpass  the  men  of 
modern  days.  This  shows  that  they  were  not  careless  about, 
and  far  less  hostile  to,  the  claims  of  knowledge ;  and,  in  all 
fairness,  such  considerations  should  be  attended  to  in  making 
a  comparative  estimate  of  the  love  of  knowledge  in  former 
and  present  times.  True  religion  almost  necessarily  drawing 
along  with  it  the  study  and  dissemination  of  the  Word  of 
God,  must  ever  supply  at  once  the  most  powerful  stimulus 
to  the  general  acquisition  of  elementary  education,  and  the 
best  incentive  to  the  attainment  of  those  higher  branches  of 
knowledge  which  are  essential  to  the  defence  and  elucidation 
of  divine  truth.  We  need  not  wonder,  therefore,  to  find  that 
the  Protestant  Church  of  France,  which,  in  her  early  days, 
was  remarkably  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  true  religion, 
should  have  laboured  to  bestow  a  scriptural  education  upon 
all  her  youth,  and  a  high  professional  education,  in  addition, 
upon  all  who  were  destined  to  minister  at  her  altars.  Thus 
did  she  approve  herself  the  friend  of  the  best  knowledge  and 
the  best  interests  of  man. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  indications  which  she  gave 
of  this  spirit  from  the  very  beginning  of  her  existence,  from 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  down  to  the  establishment 
of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  in  various  decrees  and  canons,  by 
which  she  provided  that  the  churches  should  take  care 
schools  be  erected,  and  the  youth  instructed;  and  also  that 
money  be  raised  by  influential  members  of  the  Church,  and 
by  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  for  maintaining  young  men  of 
piety  and  promising  parts  at  the  university,  preparatory  to 
their  coming  forth  as  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  1  shall  not 
recur  to  these  measures,  but  shall  shortly  advert  to  their 


142  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

maintenance  and  enlargement,  in  the  later  period  of  which  I 
now  write;  that  is,  during  a  great  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

Though  the  Church  of  France  was  considerably  reduced 
in  strength,  and  was  exposed  to  perpetual  and  harassing  inter- 
ference from  the  Church  of  Rome,  still  such  was  her  love  of 
literature,  and  philosophy,  and  theological  science,  that  she 
could  boast  of  not  less  than  five  universities,  those  of  Mon- 
tauban,  Saumur,  Nismes,  Montpellier,  and  Sedan.  She  at- 
tempted, in  1619,  to  rear  a  College  of  Philosophy  and  Litera- 
ture at  Charenton,  but  was  frustrated  by  the  Papists.  Nor 
was  this  all.  Dissatisfied  with  the  acquisitions  which  were 
made  in  the  learned  languages  at  the  elementary  and  private 
schools,  she,  in  1607,  used  means,  and  successfully,  for 
raising  a  college  or  grammar  school  in  each  of  the  thirteen 
provinces  into  which  the  Protestant  Church  was  divided, 
where  young  men  might  be  trained  preparatory  to  entering 
on  their  university  course,  and  by  which  they  might  be  bet- 
ter enabled  to  profit  by  that  course.  The  universities  and 
bursars  were  originally  supported  by  the  subscriptions  of  in- 
dividuals and  churches,  and  the  fifth  part  of  the  money  con- 
tributed for  the  poor ;  but  this  proving  inadequate  and  pre- 
carious, it  was  made  one  of  the  provisions  of  the  edict  of 
Nantes,  that  the  Government  should  contribute  an  annual 
sum  to  the  Church  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand 
livres  :  of  this  the  universities  received  between  twelve  thou- 
sand and  thirteen  thousand  livres,  and  each  of  the  provincial 
colleges  one  hundred  crowns.  Even  with  this  assistance, 
individuals,  and  churches,  and  Synods,  were  called  upon  for 
free  contributions.  Owing  to  the  necessities  of  the  State, 
and  the  hostile  influence  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  royal 
grant  was  repeatedly,  and  for  years,  discontinued.  In  these 
circumstances,  the  Protestant  Church  had  no  resource  but  to 
apply  to  her  friends.  In  1631,  the  Synod  of  Charenton  com- 
plains, that  the  colleges  and  universities  had  not  received  any 
assistance  from  his  Majesty's  bounty  for  a  long  time;  and, 
in  the  dread  of  being  plunged  "at  last  into  total  ruin,"  or- 
dained, that  the  fifth  denier  of  all  alms  received  in  all  the 
churches,  should  be  set  aside,  out  of  which  a  sum  might  be 
raised  for  their  maintenance,  "  by  way  of  advance  and  loan, 
only  until  the  monies  granted  by  his  Majesty  being  received, 
restitution  be  made  of  those  borrowed  sums  to  the  comfort 
and  benefit  of  the  poor."  A  sort  of  assessment  for  these 
purposes  was  fixed  upon  the  churches  in  each  of  the  thirteen 


OF    FRANCE. 


143 


provinces,  and  some  of  the  provinces  were  required  to  con- 
tribute from  twelve  hundred  to  eighteen  hundred  livres.  Such 
were  the  difficulties  with  which  the  Protestant  Church  had 
to  struggle  about  this  period,  from  the  wants  of  many  of  the 
•churches,  and  her  own  "  deep  poverty,"  that  she  was  obli- 
ged, very  reluctantly,  to  abandon  the  professorships  of  the 
Greek  language  in  the  universities,  and  to  trust  to  increased 
diligence  in  the  grammar  schools  for  making  up  the  deficien- 
cy. These  things  all  show  the  warm  and  enlightened  zeal 
of  the  Protestant  Church  in  behalf  of  learning  and  a  superior 
education.  She  submitted  to  sacrifices.  How  many  would 
have  been  hopelessly  discouraged  by  half  the  difficulties  ? 
The  following  deliverance  of  the  Synod  of  Alanson,  in  1637, 
now  two  hundred  years  ago,  proves  at  once  the  piety  of  the 
Churchy  and  her  anxiety  to  maintain  the  interests  of  literature 
and  theology : 

"  The  National  Synod  doth  exhort  all  the  churches,  all 
lords,  gentlemen,  and  all  persons  in  particular,  to  prefer  the 
service  of  God,  the  glory  of  his  holy  name,  and  the  re-estab- 
lished order  of  his  house,  before  all  other  human  considera- 
tions whatsoever;  and  every  one  of  them,  according  to  tlieir 
abilities,  to  consecrate  unto  his  Divine  Majesty  their  free-will 
offerings,  and  to  levy  among  themselves  those  charges  neces- 
sary for  the  subsistence  of  our  universities  and  colleges,  and 
to  use  and  exercise  therein  their  Christian  charity  and  piety, 
in  supporting  those  which  are  more  feeble."  Church  courts 
are  called  upon  in  the  same  way  ;  and  the  object  is  stated, 
"  that  all  professors  and  regents  who  serve  in  the  said  uni- 
versities and  colleges,  may  annually  receive  their  appointed 
salaries,  and  so  discharge  the  duties  of  their  place  and  call- 
ing with  cheerfulness." 

Many  have  the  idea  that  the  Reformers  were  a  class  of 
rude,  ignorant  enthusiasts,  who  had  no  value  for  knowledge, 
but  rather  despised  it.  Let  such  a  testimony  as  the  above 
silence  so  unwarrantable  an  imputation. 

But  the  anxiety  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  for  a 
high  and  enlarged  style  of  theological  education  will  be  more 
apparent,  if  we  advert  to  the  number  of  the  professors  em- 
ployed, and  the  branches  which  they  taught.  In  the  univer- 
sity of  Montauban  there  were  two  professors  of  divinity,  two 
professors  of  philosophy,  one  professor  of  Greek,  and  one 
professor  of  Hebrew.  In  the  university  of  Saumur  there  was 
the  same  number  of  professors  teaching  the  same  branches, 
and  five  regents  in  addition.  At  Nisnies  and  Montpelier  there 


144  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

were  two  professors  of  theology,  and  two  of  Hebrew ;  and 
at  Sedan,  one  of  divinity,  one  of  Greek,  and  one  of  Hebrew. 
In  all,  there  were  not  fewer  than  seven  professors  of  theolo- 
gy, live  of  Hebrew,  four  of  philosophy,  and  three  of  Greek, 
for  the  now  comparatively  limited  Church  of  France.  Does 
not  this  show  a  true  love  of  learning?  We  shall  look  in  vain 
in  our  British  universities,  whether  in  the  northern  or  south- 
ern division  of  the  island,  for  the  same  proportion  of  profes- 
sors. 

In  the  general  laws  for  the  universities  of  the  Reformed 
Churches  of  France,  in  1620,  we  have  the  follow^ing  interest- 
ing resolution: — "  We  shall  need  two  professors,  at  least,  in 
divinity,  one  of  whom  shall  expound  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
without  expatiating  into  common  places.  The  other  shall 
read  common  places.  If  God  so  bless  us  with  ability,  we 
shall  have  a  third,  and  then  one  of  them  shall  expound  the 
Old  Testament,  and  the  other  the  New,  and  the  third  shall 
handle  common  places,  which  he  shall  have  finished  in  three 
years'  time,  with  that  brevity  and  solidity  as  becomes  a 
scholar." 

With  regard,  again,  to  the  work  of  the  professors,  every 
one  of  them  was  required  to  read  four  lectures  a  week,  and  to 
exercise  the  students  weekly  in  certain  themes,  both  in  Latin 
and  in  French.  For  the  greater  benefit,  too,  of  the  students,  the 
general  heads  of  the  lectures  were  dictated  to  them.  And 
such  was  the  care  for  religious  instruction,  that  the  tutors 
and  the  regents,  in  the  literary  and  philosophical  classes, 
were  required  to  read  to  their  scholars  a  section  of  the  Greater 
Catechism,  either  in  French,  Latin,  or  Greek,  according  to 
their  capacities,  "  and  to  cause  them  to  get  it  by  heart,  and 
to  give  them  a  plain  and  familiar  exposition  of  it.*'  In  1631, 
metaphysics,  which  had  not  been  publicly  taught  in  the  uni- 
versities, were  added  to  the  course,  and  every  professor  of 
philosophy  was  called  upon  to  instruct  his  students  in  this 
branch  of  knowledge ;  and  the  Protestant  Church  was  the 
more  anxious  upon  this  head,  that  the  Romish  Church  had, 
by  false  metaphysical  principles  and  depraved  theology, 
brought  a  great  prejudice  upon  divine  truth.  It  was  appointed, 
too,  that  the  first  elements  of  logic  should  be  taught  in  the 
first  classes,  that  the  young  men  might  be  prepared  for  higher 
learning.  At  the  same  time,  the  professors  of  philosophy 
were  warned  not  in  the  least  "  to  invade  the  profession  of 
theology,  but  to  contain  themselves  within  their  own  bounds, 
without  roving  abroad  on  the  handling  of  unprofitable  ques- 


OF    FRANCE.  145 

tions."  The  Protestant  church,  well  aware  what  metaphysi- 
cal questions  had  been  started  and  pursued  by  the  Romish 
Churchmen,  and  that  serious  injury  had  thus  accrued  to  the 
cause  of  religion,  were  justly  jealous  upon  this  head;  hence 
professors  of  philosophy,  in  handling  physical  and  metaphy- 
sical questions  connected  with  divinity,  are  exhorted  to  take 
care  that  they  do  so  in  such  manner  as  not,  in  the  least,  to 
injure  the  principles  of  true  religion,  nor  "  infuse  any  scru- 
ples contrary  to  piety  into  the  tender  minds  of  our  youth." 
Curious  and  unprotitable  questions  are  to  be  avoided;  they 
are  not  to  enlarge  on  the  confutation  of  unknown  heresies, 
further  than  is  necessary  for  the  right  interpretation  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  in  all  their  expositions,  they  are  to  preserve 
that  gravity  and  simplicity  of  style  "  which  shineth  forth  so 
conspicuously  in  the  writings  of  those  famous  divines  whom 
the  Lord  raised  up  to  kindle,  in  the  last  century,  the  flam- 
beau of  the  gospel  in  these  and  the  neighbouring  nations." 
No  intelligent  man  can  read  these  counsels  without  being 
struck  with  the  strong  sense  and  enlightened  piety  which 
they  discover. 

The  mode  of  appointing  the  professors  was  equally  wise. 
The  Provincial  Synods  within  whose  bounds  the  university 
was  situated,  had  the  filling  up  of  the  chairs.  Candidates 
for  those  of  divinity  were  required  to  prove  iheir  qualifica- 
tions by  public  lectures  on  some  special  text  out  of  the  origin! 
Hebrew  and  Greek  Bible,  given  to  them  for  that  purpose, 
"  and  by  disputations,  in  one  or  two  days  following,  as  may 
be  most  advisable."  And,  after  the  appointment  had  taken 
place,  the  eye  of  the  Church  did  not  cease  to  watch.  On 
the  contrary,  the  provinces  bordering  on  the  universities  are 
entreated  "to  oversee  and  visit  them,  and  certify  the  ap- 
proaching Synod  of  the  duties  or  defaults  of  their  respective 
regents  and  professors."  In  a  long  chapter  on  the  universi- 
ties in  1659,  it  is  expressly  ordained  by  the  Synod  of  Lou- 
doun, that  some  pastors  shall  be  deputed  every  year  to  inspect 
and  visit  the  universities,  and  to  notice  what  progress  is  made 
by  the  young  men  in  philosophy  and  divinity,  "and  by  the 
authority  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  this  assembly,  to  re- 
dress whatsoever  disorders  shall  be  particularly  notified  or 
observed  by  them."  In  furtherance  of  this  object,  two  pas- 
tors and  two  elders  were  appointed  as  visiters  for  each  uni- 
versity, and  they  were  commissioned  forthwith  to  proceed 
upon  their  important  errand. 

Thus  did  the  Clmrch  exercise  an  active  superintendence 
10 


146  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

over  ilie  universities,  and  most  anxious  was  she  for  well 
qualified  professors.  So  early  as  1601,  we  read,  *'  And  the 
colloquy  of  Quercy  is  charged  to  take  special  care  thatMon- 
tauban  be  furnished  with  most  able  professors,  who  may 
reputably  and  conscientiously  perform  their  duty ;  as  also, 
the  other  colloquies  are  to  put  to  their  helping  hand,  that  the 
liive  be  done  for  their  universities."  Every  encouragement 
also  was  to  be  given  to  the  professors.  That  they  might  not 
be  needlessly  anxious  about  their  maintenance  in  these  un- 
setded  times,  it  is  expressly  provided,  that,  at  least  for  a  sea- 
son, they  shall  be  paid  a  year  in  advance.  And  to  secure  a 
fair  attendance  on  their  lectures,  every  province  was  bound 
to  maintain  a  certain  number  of  scholars  at  the  universities; 
and  the  young  men  were  not  eligible  to  the  ministry,  vi^ithout 
producing  good  and  sufficient  testimonials  of  their  learning 
and  godliness,  signed  by  the  professors  of  those  universities 
where  they  studied.  What  could  wise  and  faithful  men 
have  done  more  to  promote  the  united  interests  of  learning 
and  religion?  And  when  it  is  remembered  that  all  this  was 
carried  forward  at  a  period  when  the  Protestant  Church  of 
France  was  poor,  and  every  now  and  then  persecuted,  what 
better  proof  can  we  have  of  the  power  of  that  true  religion 
which  still  reigned  in  the  hearts  of  her  ministers,  and  elders, 
and  people? 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  parallel  history  of 
the  Church  of  Scodand  in  the  same  acquisitions.  It  is  well 
known  that,  previous  to  the  establishment  of  the  Protestant 
Church  of  Scotland,  the  ignorance  in  every  branch  of  know- 
ledge was  extreme.  Tyder,  in  his  history  of  this  country, 
stales,  that  in  the  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  which  interven- 
ed between  Alexander  III.  and  David  11.,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  find  a  Scottish  Baron  who  could  sign  his  own  name.  And 
as  to  higher  literature,  it  is  well  known  that  one  of  the  early 
Reformers  was  the  first  to  introduce  the  study  of  the  Greek 
language  into  this  country,  a  few  years  before  the  Reforma- 
tion; and  that  the  Hebrew  language  was  unknown  for  some 
years  after  the  establishment  of  the  Protestant  ('hurch,  and 
that  though  Scotland  could  boast  of  three  universities!  It  is 
also  equally  well  known,  that  from  the  first  hour  of  her  birth, 
the  Church  of  ScoUand  has  been  the  warm  and  unwearied 
promoter  of  knowledge  among  all  classes  of  the  people,  and 
has  required  a  superior  education  for  her  ministers,  'i'he 
First  Book  of  Discipline,  drawn  up  in  1560,  sets  forth  the 


OP    FRANCE.  147 

necessity  and  obligation  of  "the  virtuous  education,  and  the 
godly  upbringing,  of  the  youth  of  this  realm;"  and  means 
were  instituted  for  the  purpose.  The  scheme  which  the  Re- 
formers sketched  contemplated  a  school  in  every  parish ;  a 
grammar  school  in  every  "notable  town;"  an  increased 
number  of  universities  ;  and  the  efficient  use  of  those  already 
in  existence ;  and  though,  from  many  causes,  some  of  them 
similar  to  the  adverse  influences  which  retarded  the  Protes- 
tant Church  of  France,  the  noble  designs  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  were  not  carried  into  full  effect,  yet  much  was  ac- 
complished, so  that,  in  point  of  knowledge  and  improvement, 
the  face  of  the  country  assumed  a  new  aspect.  It  was  uni- 
formly found  that  when  the  Church  was  strong,  and  just  ac- 
cording to  her  strength,  successful  means  were  undertaken 
for  the  education  and  elevation  of  the  people. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1571  ordains,  "that  ministers 
and  elders  of  kirks  shall,  universally  within  the  realm,  take 
trial  and  examine  all  young  children  within  their  parishes, 
who  are  come  to  nine  years,  for  the  first  time ;  thereafter, 
when  they  come  to  twelve  years,  for  the  second  time ;  the 
third  time,  when  they  are  of  fourteen  years,  whereby  it  may 
be  known  what  they  have  profited  in  the  school  of  Christ 
from  time  to  time." 

From  various  sources,  some  of  them  not  very  accessible  to 
the  general  reader,  I  have  collected  together  the  following 
notices  of  the  strong  educational  taste  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land. So  early  as  1595,  every  Presbytery  is  to  see  to  the 
visitation  and  reformation  of  grammar  schools  in  towns,  and 
to  deal  with  the  magistrates  for  augmenting  the  salaries  of 
the  masters,  and  to  assist  the  masters  in  maintaining  discip- 
line. In  the  same  year,  eight  ministers  are  appointed,  some 
of  them  of  eminent  learning,  such  as  Rollock,  Mellville,  &c., 
to  visit  the  colleges,  try  the  life  and  qualifications  of  the  mas- 
ters, and  see  after  the  temporalities,  that  there  is  no  abuse,  and 
that  all  is  turned  to  the  best  account.  And  next  year,  owing 
to  the  want  of  suitably  educated  men  for  the  ministry,  every 
Synod  is  enjoined  to  support  a  bursar  at  the  College  of  St. 
Andrews.  Ministers'  sons  are  to  be  preferred.  When  their 
course  is  completed,  they  are  to  labour  within  the  bounds  of 
the  Synod  which  has  sustained  them,  unless  they  obtain  ex- 
press permission  to  labour  elsewhere. 

With  regard,  more  particularly,  to  elementary  schools, 
which,  in  some  cases,  seem  to  have  been  taught  by  the  min- 
ister, in  addition  to  all  his  other  duties,  we  have  the  follow- 


148  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

ing  information.  Limiting  our  view  to  the  parallel  period  in 
the  Church  of  France,  it  is  ascertained  from  the  report  of  a 
visitation  of  schools,  in  1611  and  1613,  in  the  district  of  St. 
Andrews,  that  schools  were,  at  so  early  a  period,  planted  in 
about  two-thirds  of  the  parishes.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  this  held  true  of  the  country  generally.  The  eminent 
Alexander  Henderson,  in  1630,  liberally  endowed  a  school 
in  the  parish  of  Leuchars,  of  which  he  was  then  minister, 
and  another  at  Creich.  Mr.  Gabriel  Seniple  set  apart  two 
thousand  merks  for  the  same  purpose,  in  the  parisli  of  Kil- 
patrick  Durham.  Kirk-sessions  defrayed  the  educational  ex- 
penses of  the  poor,  out  of  the  parish  funds,  and  sometimes 
made  it  a  condition  of  parents  receiving  relief,  that  they 
should  send  their  children  to  school.  And  the  education 
was  not  slender.  In  1645,  it  was  resolved  by  the  General 
Assembly,  that  no  schoolmaster  should  be  appointed  to  burgh 
or  considerable  parish  schools,  unless  he  were  found  skilful 
not  only  in  writing  Latin  prose,  but  Latin  verse.  In  a  parish 
so  small  as  Ormiston,  money  was  expended  by  the  session 
at  that  period,  in  purchasing  Greek  Lexicons  for  the  use  of 
the  school,  and  other  expensive  books. 

But  in  a  matter  so  honourable  to  a  Christian  Church,  and 
at  a  period  like  the  present,  in  which  every  thing  connected 
with  education  is  so  deeply  interesting,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  be  a  little  more  particular.  It  appears  from  the  records  of 
the  Synod  of  Fife,  that  in  the  parish  of  Forgan,  in  1611, 
every  plough  was  to  pay  13s.  4d.  for  the  better  entertain- 
ment of  the  school,  every  child  6s.  8d.  in  the  quarter,  and 
strangers  from  other  parishes  from  20s.  to  30s.  This  is  re- 
presented as  the  common  order.  A  few  years  afterwards 
we  read,  that  at  Errol,  every  person  occupying  £l  of  land 
was  to  pay  to  the  school  13s.  4d. ;  and  in  accordance  with 
this  anxiety  for  the  education  of  the  young,  we  find  that,  in 
1619,  the  Synod  of  Fife  appointed  a  catechism  to  be  formed 
for  their  use,  "of  as  intelligible  and  edifying  terms  as  pos- 
sible; and  the  great  Alexander  Henderson,  who  afterwards 
bore  so  prominent  a  part  in  drawing  up  the  Solemn  league 
and  Covenant,  and  the  Standards  of  the  Westminster  As- 
sembly, is  requested  ro  revise  one  which  had  been  prepared 
by  three  of  his  brethren.  But  with  all  this  anxiety,  and  la- 
bour, and  sacrifice,  on  the  part  of  the  Church,  the  education 
of  the  country,  as  a  whole,  was  still  very  imperfect.  We 
have  alreatly  seen  how  many  of  the  parishes,  in  1627,  re- 
ported that  they  had  no  school,  or  that  it  was  falling  to  decay, 


OP    FRANCE.  149 

or  was  about  to  be  abandoned  for  want  of  pecuniary  resour- 
ces ;  and  how  many  commissioners,  in  respectable  circum- 
stances of  life,  could  not  write  their  own  names.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  from  the  records  of  the  Presbyiery  of  St. 
Andrews,  in  1641,  shows  at  once  the  large  amount  of  edu- 
cational destitution,  and  the  zeal  of  the  Church  to  supply  it, 
though  then  struggling  for  her  very  existence  against  the 
troops  of  her  king: — "And  because  the  woful  ignorance, 
rudeness,  stubbornness  and  incapacity  that  is  seen  among  the 
common  people,  proceeds  from  want  of  schools  in  landward 
parishes,  and  not  putting  of  children  to  school  where  they 
are — therefore  it  is  ordained,  that  all  possible  means  be  used 
that  there  be  a  school  in  every  congregation,  and  that  where 
there  is  one  already,  every  one  who  has  children,  one  or 
more,  put  them  to  the  school,  having  once  passed  seven  years 
old.  If  the  parents  be  poor,  then,  in  that  case,  the  kirk-ses- 
sion take  order  for  paying  the  schoolmaster  his  due,  either 
out  of  the  poor's  box,  or  else  by  a  quarterly  collection  made 
for  the  purpose,  in  the  congregation,  before  divine  service; 
but  if  the  parents  be  able,  then  let  them  be  obliged  both  to 
send  their  children,  when  the  session  gives  an  order  for  it, 
and  not  to  remove  them  till  the  session  be  acquainted  there- 
with ;  and  that  the  onwaiting  (diligence)  of  the  schoolmaster 
be  precisely  looked  to  by  the  minister  and  elders,  and  if  they 
be  found  negligent,  to  be  censured ;  and  that  every  house 
that  is  able  have  a  Bible  and  a  Psalm-book,  at  least  a  New 
Testament." 

In  perfect  harmony  with  these  anxious  labours  for  the 
spread  of  education  in  the  east  of  the  kingdom  of  Fife,  we 
have  the  following  interesting  proof  of  the  same  zeal  in  the 
extreme  west  of  the  same  county.  I  have  been  favoured  by 
a  friend  with  the  following  and  various  other  extracts  from 
the  Session  Records  of  Dunfermline,  in  1647,  a  few  years 
later  than  that  of  St.  Andrews  : — 

"  The  session,  considering  the  great  ignorance  of  children, 
and  of  the  youth  in  this  parish,  especially  of  the  poorest  sort, 
from  want  of  education  at  schools — their  parents  not  being 
able  to  sustain  them  thereat — which  occasions  gross  igno- 
rance, and  great  increase  of  sin,  therefore  the  session  has 
thought  fit,  that  schools  be  set  up  in  the  several  quarters  of 
the  landward  part  of  this  parish,  especially  in  those  parts 
that  are  remotest,  and  stand  most  in  need,  and  are  fittest  for 
the  same  ;  and  that  men  and  women  teachers  be  sought  out 
and  provided  thereto ;  recommending  the  same  to  the  care 


150  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

and  diligence  of  the  elders  and  odiers  who  are  able,  in  these 
quarters,  with  the  minister,  to  see  the  same  done ;  and  also 
recommending  to  the  elders  and  deacons,  both  in  town  and 
landward,  to  give  in  to  the  session  a  monthly  roll  of  the 
children  who  are  not  educated  and  put  to  schools,  whose 
parents,  being  able  to  sustain  them  thereat,  are  negligent  of 
that  duty;  as  also,  to  give  a  roll  of  the  poor  ones  who  are 
neglected,  that  the  session  may  take  cause  with  both,  and 
that  the  poor  ones  may  some  way  be  sustained  and  helped, 
and  furnished,  at  the  least,  by  the  session,  in  books  to  them- 
selves, and  in  quarterly  payments  to  their  teachers  ;  and  the 
elders  are  desired  to  report  their  diligence  to  the  session." 

These  were  admirable  resolutions,  and  they  were  excel- 
lently confirmed  and  sustained  by  the  following  overtures  for 
promoting  education,  which  were  approved  by  the  General 
Assembly,  and  sent  down  to  the  inferior  courts  in  the  course 
of  the  same  year.  Nothing  at  the  present  day  can  exceed 
the  wisdom  and  the  zeal  of  the  following  suggestions  and 
recommendations : — 

1.  Ministers  are  frequently  to  press  the  duty  of  parents 
training  up  their  children  at  schools. 

2.  Ministers,  in  the  course  of  visiting,  are  to  take  up  a 
roll  of  children  above  five  and  under  ten  years  of  age. 

3.  Parents  are  frequently  to  be  exhorted,  in  the  course  of 
visitation,  to  send  children  to  schools,  on  their  own  charges, 
if  they  be  able,  and  where  not,  the  session  provide ;  and  in 
case  of  negligence,  parents  to  be  threatened  with  processes, 
(church  censure.) 

4.  Masters  to  inform  ministers  or  sessions  of  any  children 
withdrawn  from  school  before  they  have  attained  to  profi- 
ciency ;  if  they  neglect  this,  they  are  to  be  censured  by  the 
session. 

5.  Ministers  are  frequently  to  visit  the  schools,  and  see 
whether  the  number  of  children  correspond  with  the  roll, 
and  also  the  diligence  and  pains  of  the  master  on  the  poor 
ones. 

6.  Masters  of  families  are  exhorted  to  use  means  for  teach- 
ing their  servants  to  read. 

Such  were  the  earnest  injunctions  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly: and  were  they  attended  to?  Were  they  followed  with 
any  favourable  result?  There  was  decided  progress.  In 
answer  to  certain  queries,  two  years  after,  regarding  the 
planting  of  schools  and  churches,  the  Presbytery  of  Dunferm- 
line report,  that  they  have  already  planted  theirs,  with  the 


OF    FRANCE.  151 

exceplioii  of  one  or  two,  which,  with  God's  blessing,  they 
intend  to  plant  by  the  next  visitation.  The  Presbytery  of 
St.  Andrews  and  Kirkaldy  report,  that  they  have  already 
done  their  diligence  in  that  matter;  and  the  Synod  recom- 
mends the  Presbytery  of  Cupar,  which  seems  to  have  been 
slow  in  the  work,  to  provide  for  their  schools  according  to 
Act  of  Parliament.  Early  next  year  this  Presbytery  call 
upon  every  brother  to  state  the  condition  of  his  parish  in  re- 
gard to  schools,  that  diligence  may  be  used  for  planting 
wherever  they  are  awanting.  The  judgment  is,  that  the  only 
way  to  get  schools  fully  settled  is,  to  visit  the  several  congre- 
gations ;  and  the  brethren  resolve  to  do  this  at  their  earliest 
convenience,  after  the  meeting  of  Synod. 

With  regard,  more  particularly,  to  the  parish  of  Dunferm- 
line, to  which  reference  has  been  already  made,  I  find  from 
its  records,  that  they  followed  out  the  excellent  resolutions 
which  they  had  formed.  In  regard  to  one  of  the  landward 
schools  of  which  they  speak,  certain  individuals  are  appoint- 
ed "  to  see  and  have  a  care  that  a  house  be  biggit  (built)  in 
the  said  part  within  a  month,  and  to  report  their  diligence 
therein."  In  the  twenty  eminently  Presbyterian  years  which 
stretch  from  1640  to  1660,  there  are  above  a  hundred  entries 
in  the  record  in  connection  with  education,  paying  the  teach- 
er, and  the  bursar,  and  particularly  for  the  instruction  of  poor 
children.  In  the  single  year  of  1648,  there  are  not  less  than 
nine  entries  about  the  payment  for  poor  scholars ;  and  the 
whole  sum  expended  is  not  less  than  ^262  Scots.  In  the 
beginning  of  1660,  there  is  a  resolution  passed,  that  "it  is 
thought  fit  the  collection  be  only  for  those  poor  scholars  who 
are  learning  to  read  English,  and  that  the  session  be  not  bur- 
dened with  paying  the  quarterly  payments  of  those  who  are 
able  to  read  the  New  Testament  perfectly,  unless  they  are 
of  a  quick  and  pregnant  spirit."  It  may  be  noticed,  in  pass- 
ing, that  in  the  next  twenty  years,  those  of  prelatical  per- 
secution, from  1660  to  1680,  there  are  only  twenty  educa- 
tional entries,  and  only  nine  of  these  respect  payments  for 
poor  children.  Doubdess  there  would  not  have  been  so 
many,  had  it  not  been  for  the  good  system  which  prevailed 
before,  and  which,  like  a  wheel  once  set  in  motion,  continued 
to  operate  after  the  impulse  had  ceased. 

It  was  after  the  Church's  labours  in  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion to  which  I  refer,  that  Kirkton,  the  historian,  speaking  of 
the  country  generally,  could  say — "All  the  children  of  age 
could  read  the  Scriptures,  and  were  provided  with  Bibles, 


152  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

either  by  their  parents  or  their  ministers.  After  a  commu- 
nion, there  were  no  fewer  than  sixty  aged  people,  men  and 
women,  went  to  school,  that  even  then  they  might  be  able  to 
read  the  Scriptures  with  their  own  eyes."  Of  an  earlier 
period  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  Livingstone  states,  that 
Mr.  Greig,  the  minister  of  Loudoun — one  of  those  impri- 
soned in  the  reign  of  James  VL — told  him,  "that  in  one 
winter,  forty  persons  in  his  parish,  and  each  of  them  above 
forty  years  old,  did  learn  to  read,  that  they  might  enjoy  the 
benefit  of  the  Bible." 

Passing  from  elementary  schools,  we  may  advert  shortly 
to  higher  education,  to  what  was  designed  to  fit  for  the  min- 
istry of  the  Gospel  in  these  days,  the  instrument  of  greatest 
power.  Much  care  was  taken  that  there  should  both  be  a 
full  supply  of  men,  and  that  they  should  be  well  educated — 
men  of  learning.  Some  notices  have  been  already  given  of 
this  in  the  earlier  periods  of  the  Church.  But  the  same  spirit 
was  active  and  strong  in  the  years  whose  history  we  are  now 
reviewing.  Thus,  in  1616,  the  Synod  of  Fife,  agreeably  to 
the  recommendation  of  the  General  Assembly,  resolves  to 
maintain  five  students  of  divinity  at  the  New^  College  of  St. 
Andrews.  The  expressed  motives  of  the  Synod  are,  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  entertainment  of  learning.  Three 
years  after,  we  find  the  same  Synod  supporting  six  bursars. 
Each  bursar  is  to  receive  ^80  Scots  to  defray  three-fourths 
of  the  expense  of  his  board.  The  maintenance  is  to  be 
continued  for  four  years — showing  how  thorough  was  the 
education  which  was  contemplated.  Where  they  were  found, 
on  trial,  not  likely  to  profit  by  the  education,  they  were  to 
be  dismissed,  and  others  received  in  their  room.  These  were 
important  steps;  but  when  the  General  Assembly  recovered 
her  power,  she  went  further.  In  1639,  she  ordained  not 
merely  Synods,  but  every  Presbytery,  to  support  a  bursar. 
This  would  raise  and  support  a  considerable  number  of 
young  men  over  Scotland,  for  Presbyteries  were  numerous. 
At  a  later  day  she  went  further,  and  required  every  congre- 
gation and  parish  to  contribute  a  certain  amount  to  the  same 
object.  £20  for  the  bursar  is  the  common  payment  from 
the  parish  of  Dunfermline.  Nor  was  it  students  having  En- 
glish only  for  whom  she  showed  so  much  concern.  The 
poor  Highlanders  were  not  neglected.  The  Presbytery  of 
St.  Andrews,  in  1648,  ♦' considering  how  necessary  it  is  that 
those  who  have  the  Irish,  or  Gaelic  tongue,  be  trained  at 
schools  and  colleges,  for  the  better  planting  of  kirks  in  the 


OF    FRANCE.  153 

Highlands;  and  being  certainly  informed  of  the  good  hopes 
of  Zachary  M'Callum,  that  he  is  a  quick  youth,  capable  of 
learning,  and  that  his  father  is  not  able  to  train  up  his  child- 
ren in  that  way,  appoint  him  to  be  sent  for  to  St.  Andrews, 
and  the  Presbytery  is  willing  to  take  the  burden  of  his  en- 
tertainment till  the  meeting  of  Synod."  At  the  meeting,  the 
Synod  agree  to  maintain  Zachary  M'Callum,  "  a  boy  having 
the  Irish  tongue,"  at  the  grammar  school  of  St.  Andrews, 
for  the  space  of  a  year,  until  he  be  ready  for  the  college. 
Every  church  is  to  pay  forty  shillings  towards  his  support. 

I  need  say  nothing  of  the  Church's  love  of  learning,  and 
of  her  anxiety  to  promote  its  interests.  So  early  as  1662, 
we  find  her  making  inquiry  as  to  what  books  her  ministers 
possessed — whether  their  libraries  were  adequate  to  their 
calling.  Presbyteries  are  to  see  if  the  minister  has  the  Scrip- 
tures in  the  original  languages,  and  Tremellius's  Translation 
of  the  Old,  and  Beza's  of  the  New  Testament — if  he  has 
works  on  Ecclesiastical  History — and  what  Commentaries, 
and  what  course  of  reading  he  has  pursued  in  controversies. 
A  few  years  after,  the  Synod  of  Fife  assist  the  College  of 
St.  Andrews  in  getting  up  a  library  for  the  use  of  learning, 
and  agree  to  call  for  the  benevolence  of  gentlemen  in  differ- 
ent parishes,  in  furtherance  of  the  object.  And  as  ihe  means 
of  a  superior  clerical  education  were  provided,  so  considera- 
ble attainments  were  expected  at  the  hands  of  candidates  for 
the  ministry.  It  appears  from  the  records  of  the  Synod  of 
Fife,  that,  in  1624,  they  were  required  to  bring  testimonials 
of  character — of  blameless  life  and  conversation — that  they 
had  passed  through  a  course  of  philosophy — were  twenty- 
five  years  of  age — had  conducted  themselves  well  and  use- 
fully since  leaving  college.  They  are  required  to  read  the 
Greek  Testament  ad  aperturam — and  a  chapter  of  Hebrew 
after  twenty-four  hours  meditation.  They  are  then  to  be 
examined  on  the  grounds  of  religion,  according  to  Calvin's 
Institutes  and  Beza's — question  and  answer — unless,  from 
other  learned  writers,  they  are  able  to  give  of  their  own 
knowledge,  the  best  and  soundest  replies.  They  are  then 
to  be  questioned  on  controverted  points,  in  which  they  are 
to  be  required  to  state  the  case  and  answers  on  both  sides,  in 
the  form  of  Chemnisius,  or  any  other  learned  divine  who 
has  written  on  controversy.  Then  they  are  to  make  a  ser- 
mon, privately,  in  Latin  and  English,  and  next  publicly. 

In  1641,  the  General  Assembly  used  her  best  exertions 
that  "  a  sufficient  maintenance  be  provided  for  a  competent 


154  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

number  of  professors,  teachers,  and  bursars,  in  all  faculties, 
and  especially  in  divinity,  and  for  upholding,  repairing,  and 
enlarging  the  fabric  of  the  colleges — furnisliing  libraries,  and 
such  like  good  uses,  in  every  university  and  college."  It  is 
earnestly  recommended  that  only  the  ablest  men  should  be 
appointed  to  professorial  chairs.  And  in  1645,  it  is  enacted 
that  at  the  time  of  the  General  Assembly,  commissioners 
from  the  different  universities  of  the  kingdom  shall  meet  and 
consult  together  for  the  advancement  of  piety,  learning,  and 
good  order,  in  the  schools  and  universities. 

It  is  is  scarcely  necessary  to  menlion,  that  while  so  earnest 
in  promoting  the  interests  of  literature  and  knowledge,  the 
Church  never,  for  a  moment,  lost  sight  of  the  paramount 
claims  of  true  religion,  but  on  the  contrary,  made  every 
thing  else  subservient  to  them.  It  is  a  striking  illustration  of 
this,  that  professors  of  languages  and  philosophy  were  re- 
quired, along  with  their  respective  sciences,  to  ground  their 
students  in  the  first  principles  of  Christianity.  The  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  was  translated  into  Latin,  that  it  might  be  used 
as  a  text  book  by  the  young  men  at  college.  By  an  act  of 
the  General  Assembly,  at  a  later  date,  1705,  it  was  strongly 
"recommended  to  masters  in  universities,  and  all  other  in- 
structors of  youth,  that  they  be  careful  to  instruct  their  scho- 
lars in  the  principles  of  the  Christian  reformed  religion,  ac- 
cording to  the  Scriptures."  We  have  seen  what  efforts  were 
used  to  create  and  wisely  administer  bursaries ;  and  what 
was  their  great  end,  but  to  assist  and  encourage  young  men 
in  studying  at  the  universities?  Here,  too,  religion  was  the 
reigning  object.  Who  were  the  bursars?  They  were  youths 
intended  for  the  ministry,  especially  in  Gaelic  parishes.  Such 
was  the  anxiety  of  the  Church  to  obtain  a  sufficient  number 
for  this  work,  that  she  ordered  a  contribution  of  forty  shil- 
lings Scots  from  every  congregation,  yearly,  to  raise  the  ne- 
cessary funds;  and  in  1648  there  were  not  fewer  than  forty 
Higliland  youths,  approven  by  the  Synod  of  Argyle,  in  the 
course  of  training  for  the  ministry.  At  the  same  time,  were 
it  not  unduly  protracting  this  chapter,  it  were  easy  to  show 
that  in  the  matter  of  university  visitation  there  is  also  a  pa- 
rallel between  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  and  the  Pro- 
testant Church  of  Scotland;  but  enough  has  been  adduced  to 
show  that  both  were,  even  in  the  earliest  times  the  warm 
friends  of  enlarged  knowledge  and  enlightened  education, 
and  enough  has  been  brought  forward  to  rebuke  the  silly  and 
unfounded  notion,   that  religious  men  care  nothing  about  the 


OP    FRANCE. 


155 


culture  of  mind,  and  are  the  enemies  of  knowledge.  It 
will  be  difficult,  indeed,  for  those  who  are  so  fond  of  arro- 
gating to  themselves,  exclusively,  the  title  of  the  friends  of 
knowledge  at  the  present  day,  to  give  evidence  of  such  ge- 
nerosity, self-denial,  and  sincerity,  in  the  cause,  as  the  friends 
of  religion,  and  the  Protestant  Presbyterian  Churches  have 
manifested  all  along. 

We  may  take  a  specimen  of  the  visitations  of  colleges 
from  that  of  Glasgow  in  1642.  The  Commissioners,  among 
other  things,  ordained  that  the  C4reek  text  of  Aristotle  should 
be  analyzed  viva  voce,  and  thereafter  the  sense  of  the  text  writ- 
ten— that  the  discussions  of  the  students  should  continue  in 
their  classes  and  in  the  public  schools — that  the  students  in 
private  should  speak  Latin — that  they  should  be  exercised 
in  lawful  games — all  games  of  chance  being  prohibited — and 
that  every  master  should  educate  his  own  students  through 
all  the  four  classes.* 

After  the  reference  which  has  been  already  made  to  learned 
works  and  learned  men  whom  the  Church  encouraged,  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  ask,  were  her  various  lobours  in  be- 
half of  a  superior  educated  clergy  successful?  Considering 
how  unpropitious  the  disturbed  times  of  James  and  Charles 
were  to  the  peaceful  pursuit  of  study,  the  Church  was  emi- 
nently successful  in  this  department.  I  have  already  pointed 
to  a  galaxy  of  illustrious  names;  and,  in  conclusion,  may 
just  allude  to  the  testimony  which  Livingstone,  himself  a 
man  of  decided  attainments,  gives  in  regard  to  leading  men 
of  his  day,  most  of  whose  names  I  have  already  mentioned. 
Of  himself,  he  says,  that  when  in  Holland  he  spent  much 
of  his  time  in  biblical  studies,  in  comparing  Pagnin's  version 
with  the  original  text  of  Scripture,  and  with  the  later  trans- 
lations, such  as  Munster's,  the  Tigurine,  Junius,  Diodati, 
the  English,  but  especially  the  Dutch;  and  that  he  was  en- 
couraged with  the  approbation  of  Voetius,  Essenius,  Nethe- 
nus,  and  Leusden;  and  that  he  wrote  some  emendations  on 
Pagnin's  translation,  which  were  sent  to  Dr.  Leusden.  Such 
personal  attainments  render  Livingstone  more  trustworthy 
when  speaking  of  others ;  and  he  testifies  what  was  otherwise 
well  known,  that  Robert  RoUock,  a  minister  in  Edinburgh, 
and  principal  of  the  university,  was  "very  learned,"! — that 

*  See  new  statistical  account  of  Govan,  p.  707,  whose  minister  at 
that  period  was  one  of  the  Commissioners. 

t  Beza  having  met  with  his  commentary  on  the  Romans  and  Ephe- 
sians,  wrote  to  a  friend,  "  I  have  got  a  treasure  of  incomparable  va- 


156  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

John  Scrimzeor,  of  Kinghorn,  "  was  very  learned,  especially 
in  the  Hebrew," — that  Robert  Boyd  was  "  a  man  thoroughly 
learned,  and  had  a  great  turn  for  poetry,  as  his  Hecatomhe 
Christiana  shows," — that  David  Calderwood  lived  long  in 
Holland,  "  and  wrote  his  learned  book,  entided,  Altare  Da- 
masceniim,  in  Latin,  and  some  other  pieces  in  English,  which 
helped  to  keep  many  straight  in  that  declining  time."  After 
speaking  in  the  highest  terms  of  Samuel  Rutherford,  he  re- 
lates, tliat  "  he  wrote  his  Lex  Rex,  asserting  the  lawful  liber- 
ties of  the  subject,  and  that  it  is  reported,  when  king  Charles 
saw  it,  he  said  it  would  scarcely  ever  get  an  answer;  nor  did 
it  ever  get  any,  except  what  the  Parliament,  1661,  gave  it, 
when  they  ordered  it  to  be  burnt  by  the  hand  of  the  hang- 
man." Of  George  Gillespie,  he  says,  that  when  a  proba- 
tioner, he  "  wrote  that  elaborate  piece,  entitled  The  English 
Popish  Ceremonies f^  and  when  member  of  the  VVestmiister 
Assembly,  "displayed  great  learning  and  a  deep  judgment, 
and  debated  with  perspicuity,  strength  of  argument,  and 
calmness  of  spirit,  above  any  man  in  his  time."  Other  tes- 
timonies to  the  learning  of  the  ministeries  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  might  be  referred  to,  such  as  Robert  Baillie's  Opus 
Chronologiciim,  and  David  Dickson's  Therapeutica  Sacra, 
in  Latin,  and  the  published  Discourses  of  the  Scottish  Com- 
missioners, which  were  preached  before  Parliament,  as  com- 
pared with  those  of  their  English  brethren;  but  this  were  to 
enter  on  a  wide  field.  I  would  simply  refer  to  what  Mr.  Row, 
the  biographer  of  Blair,  states  of  '*  The  New  Explication  of 
the  Holy  Bible,"  which  the  General  Assembly  resolved  upon. 
It  would  appear,  that,  as  the  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures 
in  English,  if  there  were  any,  were  expensive,  and  inacces- 
sible to  the  great  body  of  the  people,  the  Church  determined 
to  write  a  Commentary  for  them  herself.  With  this  view, 
the  several  books  were  divided  amongst  a  number  of  the 
most  godly  and  learned  of  the  ministry.  Blair  wrote  on  the 
Proverbs  and  Ecclesiastes;  Dickson,  on  the  Psalms,  St. 
Matthew,  the  Romans  and  Hebrews;  Hutcheson,  on  Job, 
and  the  twelve  minor  Prophets,  and  the  Gospel  of  John ; 
Fergusson,  on  several  of  the  Epistles,  &c.  This  Commen- 
tary, intended  as  it  was  for  popular  use,  may  not  have  afford- 
ed much  scope  for  learning,  though  there  are  sufficient  indi- 
cations that  the  writers  were  no  strangers  to  it;  but  it  pre- 

luc,  having  never  before  met  with  the  like  for  brevity,  elegance,  and 
sound  judgment." 


OF  FRANCE.  157 

senls  a  fine  specimen  of  the  full  and  thoroughly  scriptural 
style  of  instruction  in  which  the  ministers  of  those  days  so 
largely  dealt,  and  which  doubtless  paved  the  way  to  that  ge- 
neral religious  knowledge,  which,  even  among  "the  com- 
monalty," filled  Bishop  Burnet  with  wonder,  and  which 
enabled  the  people  of  Scotland  so  heroically  to  brave  the 
persecutions  and  the  martyrdoms  of  eight-and-twenty  years 
of  tyranny. 

SECTION  IV. 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  FRANCE  AND  SCOTLAND  CHERISH  SYMPATHY  AND   BENEV- 
OLENCE FOR  THE  SUFFERING. 

In  several  of  the  former  sections  I  have  endeavoured  to  bring 
out  some  interesting  features  in  the  Christian  character  of  the 
early  Protestant  Church  of  France,  and  especially  in  the 
period  in  which  the  edict  of  Nantes,  might  be  said  to  be  in 
considerable  force.  I  have  now  to  direct  the  reader's  atten- 
tion to  another,  an  additional  feature,  and  that  one  of  great 
interest  and  beauty,  viz:  the  sympathy  and  benevolence 
WHICH  THE  French  Reformed  Church  manifested  for 

THOSE  IN  suffering,  PARTICULARLY^  SUFFERING  CHRISTIANS. 

Few  aspects  of  character  are  more  affecting,  or  more  indu- 
bitably indicative  of  Christian  principle.  It  may  be  added, 
that,  in  reference  to  the  French  Church,  few  are  less  known. 
The  Saviour  went  about  doing  good  to  the  bodies  and  the 
souls  of  men,  sympathizing  with  the  afflicted,  and  adminis- 
tering suitable  relief.  So  has  it  been,  so  will  it  ever  be,  with 
his  true  followers,  according  to  their  circumstances  and  op- 
portunities. The  Protestants  of  France  were  not  hardened 
by  their  own  sufferings,  into  a  selfish  insensibility  to  the  suf- 
ferings of  others.  This  is  generally  the  way  of  the  world. 
As  became  Christians,  their  own  afflictions  only  served  to 
make  them  more  alive  to  the  afflictions  of  those  who  claimed 
their  sympathy.  We  have  many  proofs  of  this.  Not  only 
as  individuals,  but  as  a  Church,  they  took  up  cases  of  all 
sorts  of  distress,  individual  and  collective:  those  which  pro- 
ceeded direcdy  from  the  providence  of  God,  and  those  which 
were  the  result  of  the  persecuting  wickedness  of  man.  To 
select  a  few  illustrations:  In  1620,  Quevedo,  a  Spaniard, 
who  had  escaped  from  the  Inquisition  of  the  Romish  Church, 
applied  to  the  Synod  of  Alez  for  some  relief,  that  he  might 
live  in  the  profession  of  the  Gospel,  for  which  he  had  suflfer- 
ed.     The  Assembly  ordered  him  one  hundred  livres  from 


]  58  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

the  common  funds  of  the  Church.  The  same  was  to  be 
continued  as  long  as  his  deportment  justified  his  profession. 
It  was  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  consistory  of  Mont- 
pellier,  and  paid  quarterly,  ♦'  that  so  he  may  learn  some 
honest  trade,  whereby  to  gain  a  livelihood."  I  need  not 
remark  on  the  union  of  good  sense  and  Christian  principle 
and  benevolence  which  such  charity  discovered. 

About  1630  and  1645,  the  Mediterranean  was  infested 
with  Turkish  pirates,  who  made  a  prey  of  all  who  came 
within  their  reach,  carrying  them  to  the  coast  of  Africa,  and 
shutting  them  up  in  hopeless  slavery.  Thus  did  wronged 
and  miserable  Africa  make  reprisals,  as  it  were,  upon  Eu- 
rope. The  Protestant  Church  of  France,  sympathizing 
deeply  with  the  sufferers,  issued  the  following  beautiful  de- 
claration and  resolution,  which  acquires  a  fresh  interest  when 
we  remember  how  early  it  was  proclaimed,  and  how  narrow 
and  impoverished  were  the  circumstances  of  the  Church  at 
that  period: — "The  maritime  provinces  making  great  com- 
plaints of  the  vast  number  of  captives  detained  in  Algiers, 
Tunis,  Salee,  and  other  places  of  Barbary  and  Morocco, 
and  of  their  sad  and  woful  condition,  and  that  they  do  indis- 
pensably need  all  the  charitable  assistance  of  the  faithful  to 
redeem  them  out  of  misery — this  Synod  adjureth,  by  the 
bowels  of  compassion  of  the  living  God,  and  by  that  fellow- 
feeling  which  all  members  of  our  Lord  Jesus  ought  to  have 
of  one  another's  straits  and  necessities,  all  the  provinces,  and 
all  the  Churches,  and  every  particular  individual  professor 
of  our  religion,  to  yearn,  with  bowels  of  pity,  over  the  afflic- 
tion of  these  our  poor  brethren,  and  to  contribute  liberally 
towards  their  redemption."  After  stating  in  what  manner 
the  money  is  to  be  collected,  the  Synod  go  on  to  say, 
"  Every  province  shall  send  unto  the  consistory  of  Paris  a 
list  of  their  captives  and  an  account  of  their  alms,  that  so 
these  monies  may  be  employed  in  the  redemption  of  those 
captives  who  are  natives  of  provinces,  before  any  other,  and 
after  them,  as  a  supplement  of  charity,  for  others  also,  that 
so  this  whole  work  of  love  may  redound  to  the  glory  of  God, 
the  common  edification  and  particular  consolation  of  these 
our  poor  alllictod  brethren."  This  is  a  noble  resolution, 
worthy  of  a  Christian  Church.  WhUe  the  French  Protes- 
tants were  moved  by  the  claims  of  humanity  and  country, 
their  motive  was  still,  in  a  chief  degree,  religious.  They 
were  drawn  out  in  sympathy  and  compassion,  especially  be- 
cause their  brethren  were  "  poor  afflicted  Christians."     Nor 


OF    FRANCE.  159 

did  they  allow  their  charity  to  evaporate  in  empty  words; 
they  embodied  it  in  liberal  doings.  They  collected  con- 
siderable sums  of  money,  and  continued  to  do  so  for  many 
years.  In  1659,  or  fourteen  years  after  the  date  of  the  reso- 
lution which  we  have  quoted,  we  find  them  testifying,  that 
the  alms  obtained  from  the  faithful  for  this  pious  work  had 
been  most  beneficially  employed ;  and  they  determine  that, 
seeing  there  is  still  a  great  necessity  for  this  noble  charity, 
they  will  persevere  in  it,  and  press  its  claims  upon  all  the 
provinces.  Under  the  influence  of  Christian  principle,  they 
continued  in  well-doing. 

But  leaving  illustrations  of  sympathy  and  kindness  in 
cases  of  outward  and  bodily  bondage,  we  may  turn  to  other 
manifestations  of  Christian  benevolence.  Not  unfrequently 
some  particular  church  in  France  was  visited  with  a  special 
affliction  of  Divine  Providence;  and  in  such  cases,  the 
Church,  as  a  body,  immediately  discovered  the  most  open- 
hearted  and  open-handed  generosity.  In  1620,  the  magis- 
trates and  consistory  of  the  town  of  Privas  represented  to 
the  Synod  of  Alez,  "  the  great  losses,  damages  and  afliic- 
tions,"  sustained  by  them  since  the  death  of  their  pastor,  M. 
Chambaud,  so  that  they  were  reduced  to  a  lamentable  con- 
dition. The  Assembly  immediately  ordered  six  hundred 
livres  to  be  "  given  for  a  present  supply,"  and  all  the 
churches  of  the  kingdom  to  make  a  general  collection  in 
behalf  of  the  afilicted  church  of  Privas;  and  not  only  so, 
but  the  governor  of  Montauban,  and  persons  in  high  rank, 
as  well  as  the  kindred  of  the  late  minister,  are  written  to, 
and  earnestly  entreated  to  take  special  care  of  the  religious 
education  of  his  children,  "  that  they  may  not  be  diverted 
from  the  true  religion,  and  trained  up  in  Popish  idolatry." 
These  things  may  seem  minute  details  for  the  representative 
Assembly  of  a  large  Church  to  concern  itself  with;  but 
they  sliow  how  warm  and  enlightened  was  the  piety  which 
reigned  in  the  hearts  of  its  members.  In  the  same  year,  the 
church  of  Puymiroll  presented  a  petition  for  immediate  re- 
lief, owing  to  the  whole  town  being  recently  consumed  by  a 
most  dreadful  fire,  'i'he  case  is  taken  up;  the  neighbouring 
provinces  are  exhorted  to  assist  with  special  collections;  and 
the  afflicted  state  of  the  distressed  inhabitants  is  recommen- 
ded to  the  general  deputies,  that  by  them  it  may  be  laid  be- 
fore the  king.     Cases  of  famine  were  mef  in  a  similar  way. 

But,  perhaps,  the  most  interesting  class  of  cases  are  those 
of  neighbouring   persecuted   churches — pursecuted  for  the 


160  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

faithful  testimony  which  they  held  up  in  behalf  of  Protestant 
truth,  and  the  cause  of  Christ.  The  Church  of  France  sym- 
pathized deeply  with  all  in  such  circumstances.  Among  the 
grounds  for  a  day  of  fasting,  in  1620,  we  find  the  Synod 
enumerating  "  the  late  doleful  changes  happened  in  the 
churches  of  Beam,  and  in  divers  other  churches  and  provin- 
ces united  and  incorporated  with  us,  which  are  either  ruined, 
or  upon  the  very  brink  of  ruin  and  destruction."  The 
churches  which  most  frequently  appear  in  the  records  of  the 
Church  of  France,  as  demanding  and  receiving  her  sympathy 
and  assistance,  are  those  of  the  Marquisate  of  Saluces.  These 
were  situated  in  the  near  vicinity  of  the  churches  of  Pied- 
mont, and  were  harassed  with  long  continued  persecution  by 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,  a  bigoted  Roman  Catholic,  at  whose 
hands  the  Protestant  churches  of  these  regions  generally  suf- 
fered severely.  So  early  as  1603,  we  have  the  following 
interesting  statement  from  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of 
Gap: — "  The  petition  tendered  by  our  brethren  of  the  Mar- 
quisate of  Saluces,  exiled,  for  the  Gospel's  sake,  from  their 
houses  and  inheritance,  was  read,  and  it  was  judged  reason- 
able that  the  churches  of  the  said  Marquisate  should  be  pre- 
served and  conlirmed  in  their  union  and  communion  of  faith 
and  discipline  which  they  ever  had  with  the  Church  of  this 
kingdom.  And,  therefore,  the  king's  majesty  shall  be  most 
humbly  entreated  to  recommend  them  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
that  the  liberty  granted  them  by  his  edicts  may  be  continued 
and  confirmed  to  them.  And  letters  also  to  this  purpose 
shall  be  written  from  this  Assembly  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy  ■ 
and  the  Duke  de  Les  Diguieries,  and  the  churches  of  the 
valleys  shall  be  exhorted  to  join  themselves  in  a  stricter  bond 
of  union,  as  they  have  done  in  times  of  former  troubles,  one 
with  the  other." 

The  first  thing  which  the  Church  of  France  did  for  their 
suffering  brethren  was  to  give  them  the  advice  which  seemed 
most  appropriate  to  their  circumstances.  Those  who  still 
remained  in  their  native  land  are  exhorted  to  forsake  the 
places  where  they  are  constrained  to  participate  in  idolatry, 
and  to  accompany  their  banished  brethren  in  bearing  the 
cross  of  Christ.  About  this  time,  letters  are  received  from 
the  Christians  of  the  valley  of  Barcelona,  asking  for  advice 
how  to  conduct  themselves,  under  the  apprehension  of  being 
deprived,  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  "of  their  precious  liberty 
to  profess  the  Gospel,  and  worship  God  according  te  his 
holy  will,  prescribed  in  the  Scriptures."     The  answer  of 


OF    FRANCE.  161 

the  Synod  is,  that  they  most  smcerly  condole  with  them, 
and  earnestly  recommend  them  to  a  stricter  union  with  the 
Christians  of  the  other  valleys  of  Piedmont,  assuring  them  of 
all  offers  of  Christian  charity,  should  they  be  persecuted  or 
banished.  All  this  was  well,  but  stronger  and  more  decided 
assistance  than  that  of  advice  was  necessary,  and,  accordingly, 
the  Protestant  Church  of  France  was  not  slow  in  awarding 
it.  The  persecution  of  the  churches  of  Saluces  continuing, 
the  Synod  of  Rochelle,  four  years  afterwards,  called  upon  all 
the  provinces  of  the  kingdom  to  assist  them  with  extraordi- 
nary alms,  and  on  no  account  to  direct  any  of  the  money 
already  raised  for  this  purpose  to  other  ends,  however  praise- 
worthy and  good.  Nay,  such  was  the  zeal  of  the  Church 
in  behalf  of  the  suffering,  and  such  the  urgent  necessities  of 
the  case,  that  four  hundred  crowns  were  advanced  by  M. 
Bernardin,  an  elder,  to  be  afterwards  repaid  from  the  collec- 
tions and  the  king's  annual  grant.  And  the  sums  raised  by 
the  poor,  but  still  pious,  churches  of  France  were  not  incon- 
siderable. The  church  of  Bordeaux  raised  four  hundred 
livres,  the  church  of  Rochelle  eight  hundred,  the  province  of 
Poictou  fourteen  hundred  and  forty-four,  Brittany  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  Normandy  one  thousand,  Zaintonge  ten  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six,  Orleans  and  Berry  nineteen  hundred : 
thus,  of  five  provinces  alone,  above  six  thousand  livres. 
All  this  was  very  creditable,  and,  with  God's  blessing,  seems 
to  have  been  decidedly  useful  to  the  cause  of  the  persecuted. 
Ten  or  eleven  years  after,  instead  of  extermination,  we  read 
of  one  Laurence  Jolly,  one  of  the  exiled  Protestants,  bring- 
ing letters  from  the  church  of  Guillestre,  which  was  com- 
posed of  the  poor  Salucian  refugees,  praying  the  Assembly 
for  a  portion  of  the  royal  grant  for  the  maintenance  of  a  pas- 
tor, "  because  they  are  in  hopes  it  may  allure  and  attract  a 
great  many  others,  who  are  groaning  under  that  sore  and 
heavy  persecution,  and  do  hunger  after  the  Word  of  Life, 
and  ardently  desire  the  enlargement  of  Christ's  kingdom." 
The  Church  complied  with  the  request;  and  the  very  fact 
that  such  a  request  was  presented,  bears  strong  testimony 
to  the  success  with  which  the  persecuted  had  maintained 
their  ground,  and  the  hope  which  they  entertained  of  grow- 
ing strength. 

I  might  refer  to  other  cases  of  Christian  sympathy  and 

assistance,  such  as  that  rendered  to  the  church  of  Gignac, 

when  reduced  by  the  impetuous  assaults  of  its  adversaries  to 

sore  affliction  and  straits ;  how  the  Professor  of  Divinity  in 

11 


162 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


the  University  of  Nismes  was  sent  by  the  Synod  to  visit, 
and  comfort,  and  strengthen  the  members,  and  how  the  pro- 
vince of  Languedoc  was  ordered  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
liis  journey.  I  might  refer  also  to  the  eight  hundred  livres 
which  were  paid,  in  1631,  to  the  Lord  Ramboullet,  an  elder 
of  the  church  of  Paris,  to  be  employed  by  his  agent  at  Mar- 
seilles for  "the  comfort  and  deliverance  of  the  faithful,  who, 
for  religion  and  a  good  conscience  kept  by  them,  have  been 
there  detained  in  chains  ever  since  the  last  commotions." 
But  it  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  the  proofs  of  a  Christian 
principle  and  disposition  sufficiently  conspicuous:  the  whole 
is  a  beautiful  manifestation  of  Christianity  in  trying  times. 
What  a  contrast  to  the  narrow  sympathy,  and  cold  and  selfish 
doings  of  the  men  of  the  world  ! 

That  it  may  not  be  imagined  that  the  pleasing  picture  we 
have  been  considering  was  the  result  of  accident  or  national 
temperament,  I  shall  produce  a  few  parallel  cases  from  the 
history  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  Scodand,  which  will  go 
to  show  that  the  cause  was  deep  and  all-comprehensive,  that 
Christianity  lay  at  the  foundation,  and  that  in  all  countries  its 
operation  is  substantially  and  wonderfully  the  same.  With 
regard  to  sympathy  and  relief  in  cases  of  outward  slavery, 
the  records  of  the  Church  are  full  of  them,  through  a  space  of 
almost  two  hundred  years.  So  early  as  1596,  we  read  in 
the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Glasgow,  of  the  parishes 
being  called  upon  to  collect  for  the  support  of  an  afflicted 
Grecian,  who  liad  been  ransomed  by  the  Church,  for  his 
kindness  towards  the  Christians  in  bondage.  The  following 
interesting  case  was  brought  before  the  Synod  of  Fife  in 
1616.  As  it  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  style  in  which  many 
others  run,  which  occur  in  the  ecclesiastical  records,  I  give 
it  in  full:— 

"Anent  the  supplication  proposed  by  Mr.  William  Wed- 
derburn,  minister  at  Dundee,  making  mention,  that  whereas 
the  Lords  of  his  Highness'  Privy  Council  being  certainly 
informed,  that  Andrew  Robertson,  John  Cowie,  John  Dar- 
ling, and  James  Pratt,  and  their  associate  mariners,  indwel- 
lers  in  Leith,  being  lately  upon  the  coast  of  Barbary,  after  a 
cruel  and  bloody  conflict,  were  overcome  and  led  into  cap- 
tivity by  certain  merciless  Turks,  who  presented  them  to 
open  market  at  Algiers,  in  Barbary,  to  be  sold  as  slaves  to 
the  cruel  barbarians;  from  the  which  miserable  state,  James 
Fraser,  now  resident  in  the  said  town  of  Algiers,  moved  with 


OF   FRANCE.  163 

pity  and  compassion,  redeemed  them,  by  the  present  pay- 
ment of  £140  sterling  money,  for  their  ransom,  to  be  repaid 
by  the  said  captives  at  a  term  now  approaching,  who,  not- 
withstanding, are  reduced  to  such  extreme  poverty,  that  they 
are  not  able  to  repay  the  said  sum.  Whereupon  their  I^ord- 
ships  have,  by  their  letters  patent,  recommended  the  said 
distressed  travellers  to  the  charity  of  all  our  Sovereign  Lord's 
subjects,  as  the  same,  of  the  date  at  Edinburgh,  the  21st 
December,  1615,  at  more  length  bears;  craved,  therefore, 
that  this  Synod  would  hold  hand  to  that  so  charitable  a  work, 
and  provide  that  the  support  and  benevolence  granted  within 
their  bounds  may  be  collected  in  such  form  as  may  best 
serve  for  the  comfort  and  relief  of  the  forenamed  distressed. 
The  Synod  considering  the  equity  of  the  premises,  and  that 
they  have,  from  time  to  time,  being  moved  with  pity,  sup- 
ported strangers  who  have  sought  to  them  for  relief,  in  such 
case,  being  more  obliged  to  their  own  bowels,  as  also,  that 
the  frustrating  of  the  said  James  Fraser  of  his  money,  so 
lovingly  advanced  for  their  redemption,  may  afterwards  be 
prejudicial  to  others  falling  in  the  like  state,  which  God  for- 
bid, therefore  concluded  and  ordained,  that  every  brothei, 
immediately  after  their  return  from  the  Synod,  shall  deal 
carefully  and  earnestly  with  their  people,  and  bring  in  to  the 
moderators  of  the  exercises  according  as  they  shall  obtain  by 
their  benevolence  ;  and  that  the  moderators  of  the  exercises 
within  Fife  shall  receive  the  contributions  at  the  hands  of 
their  brethren,  and  deliver  the  same  to  the  Principal  of  St. 
Leonard's  College,  and  the  remainder  shall  deliver  the  same 
to  the  ministers  of  Dundee,  that  it  ma^  be  employed  to  the 
use  above  expressed. 

^'^pril,  1616." 

We  may  merely  notice  a  few  similar  cases.  In  1632,  ap- 
plication is  made  to  the  same  Synod  in  behalf  of  Alexander 
Lathersk,  and  David  Kirkaldy,  sailors  of  Kinghorn,  taken 
and  detained  three  years  by  the  Turks,  and  thence  reduced 
to  slavery  in  a  Spanish  galley,  where  they  remained  for 
eight  years.  £1000  Scots  are  necessary  for  their  redemp- 
tion, and  they  have  nothing.  All  the  members  of  Synod  are 
exhorted  immediately  to  raise  money  among  their  people. 
Four  years  after,  the  same  brethren  are  earnestly  exhorted  to 
make  a  contribution  in  behalf  of  John  Brown  of  Prestonpans, 
and  his  crew,  fourteen  in  number,  taken  by  the  Turks,  and 
detained  in  slavery.  In  1643,  it  appears  from  the  records 
of  the  parish   of  Dunfermline,  that  d640  and  half  a  dollar 


164  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

were  collected  for  the  redemption  of  Matthew  Greg  of  Inver- 
keithing,  taken  captive  by  the  Turks.  Tn  1655,  the  same 
parish  collect  £'30  for  William  Menzies,  detained  in  the  same 
captivity.  Next  year,  there  are  two  similar  contributions 
for  captives  at  Algiers ;  and  a  peculiarly  interesting  collec- 
tion of  ^58,  9s.,  for  fifteen  or  sixteen  Grecian  ministers  held 
in  the  same  miserable  bondage.  The  parties  also  apply  to 
the  Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  for  relief,  and  the  application 
runs  in  these  terms:  "  Petition  from  Anastasius  Comnenus, 
as  minister  of  the  Grecian  Church,  praying  relief  for  himself 
and  other  fifteen  ministers,  taken  by  Turks,  and  now  cap- 
lives  at  Algiers."  Tn  the  small  parish  of  Dunbog,  in  Fife- 
shire,  one  of  the  smallest  in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  we  find 
that  a  contribution  was  made,  in  1678,  for  the  relief  of  some 
Montrose  seamen,  taken  by  the  Turks.  Two  years  later, 
we  read  of  contributions  in  the  same  parish  for  two  separate 
parties  of  Scotch  seamen,  taken  by  Turkish  men-of-war,  the 
one  being  carried  to  Sallee,  the  other  to  Algiers.  And  if  even 
£0  small  a  parish  manifested  so  much  sympathy  and  gener- 
osity, well  may  we  conclude  that  the  feeling  throughout  the 
country  was  general  and  deep.  Accordingly,  we  meet  with 
innumerable  cases  where  the  General  Assembly  enjoined 
collections  for  the  redemption  of  men  out  of  slavery.  Tn 
1698,  for  Christians  detained  in  bondage  in  Barbary  ;  in 
1705,  for  a  captive  at  Algiers;  in  1719,  for  Captain  Stewart 
and  his  crew  at  Sallee,  in  the  dominions  of  the  Emperor  of 
Morocco;  in  the  same  year,  certain  Presbyteries  are  required 
to  raise  money  for  the  redemption  of  Matthew  Roger,  a  Bor- 
rowstowness  sailor;  in  1734,  the  sumof  £l4.  2s.  lOd.  was 
paid  for  the  release  of  a  slave  at  Algiers.  This,  I  presume, 
was  William  Dowell,  forwhom  I  find  the  parish  of  Morham, 
another  of  the  smallest  parishes  in  Scodand,  contributed.  So 
lately  as  1740,  several  northern  Synods  were  recommended 
to  collect  in  behalf  of  Robert  Anderson,  a  captive  at^  Tan- 
giers. 

In  reference,  again,  to  other  forms  of  distress — such  as 
calamities  proceeding  directly  from  the  hand  of  God — we 
meet  with  the  same  sympathizing  spirit  and  ready  co-opera- 
tion. In  1598,  nine  Presbyteries  are  called  upon  to  assist  the 
sufferers  by  a  dreadful  fire  at  Haddington,  and  Glasgow  is 
one  of  the  number.  In  1616,  there  was  a  severe  fire  at  Cu- 
par, which  called  forth  the  following  recommendation  from 
the  Synod  of  Fife: — "  The  Synod  understanding  that  upon 
the  last  day  of  August  last,  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  it 


OF    FRANCE.  165 

pleased  the  Lord  to  visit  the  Burgh  of  Cupar  with  a  fearful 
burning  of  the  principal  quarter  of  the  town,  in  the  most 
eminent  place  of  the  same,  whereby  the  policy  of  that  ancient 
necessary  burgh  is  miserably  defaced,  the  handling  of  traffic- 
aries  and  tradesmen  within,  among  themselves,  and  with  their 
neighbours  about,  is  utterly  impeded,  and  a  great  number  of 
good  Christians  and  laborious  persons  brought  under  distress- 
ful heaviness  and  want  of  employment,  in  such  measure,  that 
the  said  town,  by  themselves,  are  neither  able  to  support 
their  present  necessities  of  lodging  and  means  of  life,  neither 
to  repair  the  policy,  nor  to  restore  their  desolate  neiglibours 
to  their  handling  and  trades  again  ;  and  being,  as  it  is  known, 
the  head  burgh  of  the  shire,  and  the  seat  of  the  exercises 
(Presbytery),  their  desolation,  so  as  it  touches  them  in  par- 
ticular, so  in  Christian  compassion  it  concerns  all  them  that, 
fearing  God,  wishes  the  weal  and  standing  of  such  societies: 
Likeas  the  Lords  of  his  ^lajesty's  Honourable  Privy  Coun- 
cil having  considered  the  said  pitiful  case,  have  recommended 
their  relief  to  all  and  sundry  his  Highness'  subjects,  well- 
affected  in  such  causes,  by  their  Honours'  letters,  given  at 
Edinburgh  the  18th  of  September,  this  instant  year  of  God 
hereof;  the  said  Assembly  ordains  every  exercise  and  par- 
ticular congregation  within  their  bounds,  to  take  the  best  way 
and  order  among  themselves  for  relief  of  their  said  distressed 
brethren,  with  all  convenient  diligence,  at  their  return  home- 
ward, by  contributions  and  other  means,  as  they  shall  lind 
most  meet." 

The  town  of  Kelso  seems,  in  1645,  to  have  been  suffering 
gi'eatly  from  the  plague.  A  letter  is  sent  round  to  the  Pres- 
byteries, describing  its  great  desolation,  and  praying  for 
Christian  relief.  Similar  was  the  slate  of  things  in  Perth, 
Next  year,  the  elders  of  Dunfermline  report  their  diligence 
in  obtaining  contributions  for  the  town  of  St.  Johnstone 
(Perth,)  "  visited  with  the  plague  of  pestilence:  they  deliver 
in  all  to  the  session,  five  hundred  and  seventy-two  merks, 
ten  shillings."  A  few  years  afterwards  (1652,)  there  was  a 
fearful  conflagration  in  Glasgow,  worse  in  proportion  than 
the  great  fire  of  London:  a  third  part  of  the  town,  and  that 
the  best,  was  consumed  ;  one  thousand  families  were  ruined; 
the  loss  was  estimated  at  £100,000.  Cromwell  and  twenty 
four  English  othcers  signed  a  representation,  setting  forth  the 
greatness  of  the  calamity,  and  praying  for  contributions. 
The  General  Assembly  did  the  same.  The  whole  sum  raised 
by  the  parish  of  Dunfermline  was   £IG0.     Many  similar 


166  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

cases  might  be  quoted;  such  as  £32,  10s.  for  the  town  of 
Kilmarnock  suffering  from  the  effects  of  fire  in  1670;  and 
£'Z0  for  Cupar  in  1672.  During  the  persecuting  period, 
indeed,  the  contributions  appear  to  diminish  very  considera- 
bly, both  in  number  and  amount;  still  the  Church  retained 
somewhat  of  her  character  for  Christian  benevolence,  and 
from  time  to  time  gave  collections  for  good  objects.  In  1676, 
the  small  parish  of  Dunbog  contributes  to  the  rebuilding  of 
the  town  of  Kelso,  destroyed  by  fire;  and  in  1671  assists 
two  poor  men  whose  houses  were  burnt  at  Sligo  in  Ireland. 
In  1733,  the  parish  of  Go  van  aided,  by  collection,  the  suffer- 
ers by  a  serious  fire  at  Paisley;  and  in  1749,  assisted  one 
hundred  families  in  the  Gorbals  of  Glasgow,  suffering  from 
the  same  calamity.  At  a  period  when  insurance  against  loss 
by  fire  was  unknown,  such  generous  aid  was  the  more  valua- 
ble. 

The  most  interesting  cases,  however,  and  those  which 
most  distinctly  mark  the  presence  of  Christian  principle 
and  feeling,  were  cases  of  sympathy  and  aid  to  Christian 
Churches  in  straits  and  persecutions.  There  were  many 
such  calls,  and  never  did  the  Church  of  Scodand  fail  gen- 
erously to  respond  to  them.  I  do  not  allude  to  mere  cases 
of  Church  extension,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  in  Scot- 
land, in  Ireland,  in  America.  These  were  very  numerous. 
I  allude  to  cases  where  there  was  actual  distress  or  suffering 
for  the  cause  of  ("hrist.  So  early  as  1604  the  Presbytery 
of  Glasgow  made  a  collection  for  the  persecuted  Church  of 
Geneva;  and  twenty  years  afterwards,  the  same  Presbytery 
collected  £1200  Scots,  for  the  relief  of  the  French  Protes- 
tants of  Rochelle  and  Beam.  The  following  is  part  of  the 
acknowledgment  which  Basnage  gave  of  the  receipt  of  the 
money: — "  I,  in  name  of  tiie  said  General  Assembly  of  the 
Reformed  Churches  of  France  and  Sovereignty  of  Beam, 
render  most  humble  thanks  to  the  brethren  of  the  ministry, 
and  faithful  members  of  their  kirks,  for  this  charitable  and 
willing  help,  which  is  a  pledge  of  our  mutual  communion  in 
one  body,  in  their  parts,  and  in  our  parts;  making  a  firm 
band,  binding  us  and  all  our  kirks  to  pray  to  God  for  the  long 
peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Kirk  within  this  Kingdom  of 
Scotland,  and  other  his  Majesty's  dominions;  by  Mr.  Archi- 
bald Graham,  (witness)  my  hand,  at  Edinburgh,  as  follows, 
Basnage,  1622  years.  Before  these  witnesses,  John  Mac- 
knight  and  James  Spier,  merchant-burgesses  of  Edinburgh. 

"  Sic  Subscribilur — Basnage,  Depute  from  the  General 


OF    FRANCE. 


167 


Assembly  of  the  Reformed  Churches  of  France,  to  his  Ma- 
jesty of  Great  Britain. — James  Spier,  Witness  ;  John  Mac- 
kni^ht,  Witness.— ■1th  August,  1622." 

Nor,  liberal  as  this  sum  was,  was  it  all  that  the  French 
Protestants  received  from  their  Scottish  brethren.  Robert 
Blair,  who  lived  at  the  period,  states  in  his  memoirs,  that  in 
August,  1622,  Mr.  Basnage  granted  receipt  to  William  Dick 
and  James  Spier,  collectors,  for  ^80,424,  6s.  8d.  Scots ; 
and  in  June,  1632,  granted  receipt  for  the  further  sum  of 
£23,237,  I8s.  6d.,  all  from  the  Church  of  Scotland.  This 
was  an  immense  sum  in  those  days  for  a  poor  country. 
Surely  so  generous  a  gift  argues  the  presence  of  high  Chris- 
tian principle  and  feeling.  I  need  scarcely  remind  the  read- 
er, that  in  the  fast-day  appointments  of  that  and  subsequent 
periods,  the  afflicted  condition  of  the  Protestant  Churches 
was  always  a  prominent  point.  Thus,  in  a  fast  appointed  in 
Fife  for  two  Sabbaths  in  succession,  in  1021,  the  distressed 
state  of  the  foreign  Churches  of  France,  Bohemia  and  Hol- 
land, is  particularly  noticed;  and  prayer  is  recommended  for 
the  deliverance  and  preservation  of  Christians  from  the 
Turks  and  Papists.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Church,  im- 
poverished and  oppressed  as  she  was,  did  not  confine  herself 
to  prayer  and  fasting;  she  made  generous  contributions.  In 
1626,  a  nobleman  of  the  Orisons,  exiled  from  his  country 
for  his  religion,  received  £100  Scots.  In  1632,  the  minis- 
ters of  St.  Andrews'  Presbytery  are  required  to  use  all  their 
diligence  in  collecting  for  the  distressed  ministers  of  the  Pal- 
atinate ;  and  one  of  the  charges  brought  against  Alexander 
Gladstanes,  a  minister  of  the  town,  when  arraigned  before 
the  Presbytery  for  various  offences,  was,  that  he  had  appro- 
priated to  his  own  use  £692  of  what  had  been  collected  for 
the  relief  of  these  German  Christians.  I  am  unwilling  to 
swell  this  section,  and  so  shall  content  myself  with  shortly 
alluding  to  the  Church's  benevolent  doings  nearer  home.  It 
appears  from  the  Session  Records  of  Dunfermline,  that  in 
1647  a  letter  was  sent  down  from  the  Commission  of  the 
General  Assembly,  to  Presbyteries  and  their  several  congre- 
gations, recommending  to  their  help  and  charity,  "  the  lamen- 
table condition  of  the  distressed  people  in  Argyle — whose 
blood  had  been  shed  by  the  bloody  rebels,  their  estates  whol- 
ly ruined  and  destroyed,  their  houses  burnt  with  fire,  and 
the  remnant  that  they  have  left  exposed  to  all  the  miseries  of 
famine  and  nakedness,  daily  dying  and  starving  for  want  of 
bread,  destitute  of  all  means  of  livelihood  or  comfort."  The 


168  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

sum  almost  immediately  raised  for  this  object  was  not  less 
than  ^400,  2s.    Nor  did  the  Church  only  collect  for  her  own 
people  overrun  by  rebels — she  made  provision  also  for  the 
poor  Irish  Protestants  fleeing  from  the  Popish  massacre.   In 
1642,  a  general  collection  was  appointed  throughout  all  the 
parishes  of  Scotland,  for  "  the  distressed  Christians  who  are 
fled  from  the  cruelty  of  the  Irishes  and  Papists  in  Ireland, 
and  who  have  come  to  the  west  country;"  ^50  were  raised 
for  seven  of  the  number  who  had  taken  up  their  residence  at 
Dunfermline.     Livingstone  bears  testimony  to  the  liberality 
with  which  these  refugees  were  treated  in  Scotland.     As  he 
was  minister  at  Stranraer,   whither  many  came,  and   had 
moreover  been  a  minister  in  Ireland,  and  so  was  well  known 
to  not  a  few  of  the  Irish,  his  brethren  placed  £1000  Scots 
at  his  disposal,  for  distribution  among  them.     They  were  so 
numerous,  as  to  be  glad  of  such  humble  sums  as  Is.  and  Is. 
6d.  Scots.     The  Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  alone,  raised 
for  this  object  £500.     In  1719,  the  small  parish  of  Morham, 
in  Haddingtonshire,  collected  for  the  distressed   Protestant 
brethren  of  Franconia,  in  Germany,  the  sum  of  £8,  9s.  lid. 
Scots.     The  parish  of  Govan,  in  1739,  raised  money  for  the 
persecuted   Christians  of  Piedmont;  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  such  parochial  collections  were  general,  if  not  uni- 
versal.    In  1752,  the  poor  Protestants  of  Breslau,  in  Silesia, 
received  from  the  Church  of  Scotland  the  munificent  sum  of 
£1100  sterling.     The  Ecclesiastical   Records  of  Dunferm- 
line alone,  abound  in  many  pleasing  traces  of  Christian  sym- 
pathy and  zeal.     ThuSj  in  1718,  a  contribution  is  ordered  for 
the  distressed  Protestants  of  Lithuania.  In  1721,  £20,  10s. 
Scots  are  collected  for  the  French  Protestants  of  Saxony. 
Next  year,  30s.  are  given  to  John  Stancher,  a  French  Pro- 
testant refugee  recommended  by  the  Synod.     In  1724,  a 
voluntary  contribution  is  appointed  in  aid  of  the  Scots  Pres- 
byterian congregation  of  New  York.     In   1730,  there  is  a 
similar  contribution  ordered  in  favour  of  the  Reformed  French 
and  German  congregations  of  Copenhagen.     A  few  years 
later,  the  Reformed  Church  of  Breslau,  in  Silesia,  receives 
£27  Scots;  while  in  1752,  the  German  Protestants  in  the 
British  Colonies  of  Pennsylvania  receive  a  gift  of  £2,  5s.  6d. 
sterling.     Three  years  after,  there  is  a  collection  in  behalf  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  which  amounted  to  £2, 13s.  4d. 
sterling.  In  the  meantime,  repeated  contributions  were  made 
in  behalf  of  the  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Chris- 
tian Knowledge.     I  have  been  led  beyond  the  period  more 


OF    FRANCE. 


169 


immediately  under  review ;  but  I  have  thought  it  not  amiss 
to  collect  together  the  evidence  under  one  view.  It  might 
have  beeil  greatly  enlarged.  The  sums  sent  for  the  relief  of 
the  suffering,  and  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel,  are  almost 
incredible  in  number  and  amount,  when  the  poverty  of  the 
country,  and  the  manifold  demands  of  home  are  taken  into 
account. 

Such  are  a  few  illustrations  of  the  sympathy  and  benevo- 
lence manifested  by  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  to  those 
who  are  in  suffering  and  affliction;  and  such,  also,  are  a  few 
parallel  specimens  of  the  same  dispositions  exhibited  in  the 
character  and  history  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  And  what 
do  such  facts  prove?  They  prove  how  fallacious  and  untrue 
is  the  common  allegation  of  the  world  and  of  infidelity,  that 
religious  men,  in  their  zeal  for  the  forms  of  piety,  are  indif- 
ferent to  the  temporal  wants  of  man.  On  the  contrary,  they 
are  the  best  friends  of  mere  humanity,  and,  in  point  of  sym- 
pathy and  liberality,  will  not  only  stand  a  comparison  with, 
but  will  be  found  immeasurably  to  out-distance,  all  the  de- 
vices and  doings  of  the  irreligious,  by  whatever  name  they 
may  be  called.  If  any  entertain  doubt  upon  this  point,  let 
them  ask  and  ascertain  what  mere  worldly  men  really  do  for 
others,  and  ihey  will  doubt  no  longer. 

Another  inference  deducible  from  the  facts  presented  is, 
that  true  Christianity  is  expansive  in  its  liberality.  Infidels 
have  often  objected  to  the  Gospel,  that  even  its  virtues  are 
narrow  and  confined,  and  have  talked  of  a  universal  benevo- 
lence, a  citizenship  of  the  world  as  far  nobler,  and  have 
hoped  to  work  this  out  from  theories  of  their  own.  Let  the 
kindness  shown  by  the  poor  Protestant  Churches  of  France 
and  Scotland  to  the  afflicted,  wherever  they  might  be  found, 
however  far  removed,  contradict  so  foolish  an  assertion. 
What  have  infidels,  what  have  the  irreligious  done  to  realize 
their  own  speculations?  "Where  are  the  distressed  whom 
they  have  succoured — where  the  record  of  their  liberality? 
What  did  they  do  for  those  afflicted  parties  whom  impover- 
ished Christian  Churches  were  so  forward  to  aid?  The 
truth  is,  that  though  the  Gospel  lays  great  stress  upon  do- 
mestic virtues  and  relative  duties,  and  may  be  said  to  start 
with  individual  affections,  yet  it  is  so  truly  expansive  in  its 
character,  that  ere  long  it  embraces  in  its  benevolent  regards, 
the  whole  human  race  in  their  noblest  interests;  while  the 
aim  of  infidelity  to  begin  with  general  and  do  away  with 
particular  aflfections,  as  narrow,  is  not  only  unsuited  to  the 


170 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


weakness  of  our  nature,  but  frequently  terminates  in  intense 
selfishness,  nay,  must  do  so,  from  drying  up  the  very  source 
of  large  and  expanded  affections. 


SECTION  V. 

THE    CHURCHES    OF    FRANCE  AND  SCOTLAND  ARE  THE  ADVOCATES  OF  CHRIS- 
TIAN UNION. 

The  next  feature  which  I  shall  mention  in  the  character  of 
the  Protestant  Church  of  France,  indicative  of  her  decided 
Christianity,  was  her  anxiety  for  peace  among  christians 

AT  HOME,  AND  UNION  AND  CO-OPERATION  AMONG  CHURCHES  OF 

CHRIST  ABROAD.  There  is  no  call  addressed  to  Christians, 
more  frequent  or  earnest,  than  to  be  one  in  mind  and  affec- 
tion. Compliance  with  it  is  one  of  the  best  evidences  of 
genuine  religion.  But  the  reader  does  not  need  to  be  re- 
minded that,  to  the  reproach  of  Christians,  in  every  age  of 
the  Church,  few  calls  have  been  less  attended  to.  Though, 
in  the  hostility  of  a  fallen  world,  and  in  the  identity  of  their 
leading  views  and  hopes,  as  well  as  the  authority  of  their 
Master,  Christians  have  the  strongest  motives  to  unity  and 
peace;  yet  such  is  the  imperfection  of  their  attainments  in 
the  present  life — such  the  power  of  remaining  depravity,  that 
the  history  of  the  Christian  Church  has  too  often  been  the 
history  of  discord  and  alienation.  Those  who  should  have 
been  united  as  brethren,  have  been  separated  as  if  they  were 
enemies,  and  that  upon  inconsiderable  points.  In  saying 
this,  I  am  far  from  meaning  to  join  in  the  infidel's  cry  as  to 
the  perpetual  war  among  Christians,  and  of  Christianity 
sowing  dissension  in  society,  and  of  the  impossibility,  amid 
so  much  strife,  of  ascertaining  what  is  truth,  and  of  the  su- 
preme value  of  peace,  no  matter  what  its  kind  or  foundation. 
I  have  no  sympathy  with  such  a  spirit.  It  is  exaggerated 
and  unreasonable,  and  proceeds  upon  false  and  dangerous 
grounds.  Infidels  as  really  differ  from  each  other,  and 
sometimes  as  hotly,  as  any  Christians  can  do.  The  points 
in  which  Christians  are  at  one,  are  far  more  numerous  and 
important  than  those  in  which  they  are  at  variance;  and  the 
superior  moment  of  these  points  to  any  about  which  mere 
men  of  the  world  are  concerned,  is  the  very  reason  why  con- 
tests among  Christians  are  so  many  and  long  continued.  It 
is  easy  to  have  peace  and  agreement  where  the  mind  is  deal- 
ing about  what  it  considers  comparative  trifles.     But  while 


OF    FRANCE.  171 

I  hold  the  objections  of  infidels  against  Christianity,  from 
the  divisions  and  discord  of  Christians,  to  be  utterly  unrea- 
sonable, and  that  they  themselves  are  inexcusable  in  the  sight 
of  God,  I  desire  not  to  be  blind  to  the  existence  and  the  evils 
of  that  religious  dissension  which  has  prevailed  so  widely  in 
the  Christian  Church.     It  dishonours  the  name  of  Christ  and 
reproaches  his  Gospel,  weakens  the  influence  of  Christians, 
abridges  their  resources  for  the  good  of  others,  and  so  hardens 
the  ungodly  against  the  truth,  that  the  Saviour  expressly  as- 
sures us,  till  his  followers  are  "  one,"  the  world  will  not 
believe  the  Father  has  sent  Him,  indubitable  as  may  be  the 
evidences  of  his  divine  mission.      Most  mischievously  as 
separation  and  strife  among  Christians  may  have  wrought, 
we  are  not  to  imagine  that  such  an  unhappy  experience  has 
been  uniform  and  unbroken.    There  have  been  periods,  rare, 
alas !  but  real,  when  Christians  generally  have  been  united 
in  understanding  and  heart,  and  made   it  their  study  and 
prayer  to  diffuse  abroad  the  blessings  of  a  universal  religious 
concord.     Such  was  the  case  with  the  Christians  of  the  ear- 
lier apostolic  days,  of  whom  it  is  recorded,  that  they  were 
of  "  one  heart."     This  was  the  fruit  of  their  living  Chris- 
tianity; and,  indeed,  the  more  simple  and  sincere  one's  reli- 
gion is,  the  stronger  will  be  his  love  of  peace.     It  is  when 
the  cold,  and  the  selfish,  and  the  self-righteous  obtain  an  in- 
fluential place  in  a  man's  religion,  that  he  will  be  most  ready 
to  quarrel  with  his  Christian  brother,  and  to  treat  him  inju- 
riously.    The  force  of  violent  persecution,  too,  from  with- 
out, has   frequently  concurred,   with  the   presence  of  true 
Christianity  within,  in  bringing  about  harmony  and  love. 
In  seasons  of  trial,  Christians  individually  and  as  churches 
are  driven  together;  they  become  better  acquainted  with  each 
other;  points  of  inferior  moment,  which  separated,  are  sunk, 
and  thus  union   is  created.      It  is  humbling  to  think  that 
nothing  short  of  persecution  should  avail  to  teach  Christian 
love;  but  such  seems  to  be  one  of  God's  great  intentions  in 
permitting  persecution;  and  both  in  primitive  times,  and  in 
the  early  days  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France,  such 
seems,  in  part  at  least,  to  have  been  its  operation.     Though 
the  motive  may  have  been  mingled,  I  am   happy  in  being 
able  to  refer  the  infidel,  the  scofier,  and  the  worldly,  to  in- 
dubitable proofs  that  all  Christians  are  not,  as  they  allege, 
given  to  strife,  and  division,  and  hatred — that  the  Gospel  is 
the  grand  healer  of  the  dissension  which  obtains  between 
man  and  man,  and  that  if  they  would  have  the  peace  and 


172  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

charity  whicli  they  professedly  love  so  much,  they  must  have 
recourse  to  that  maligned  doctrinal  Christianity  for  which 
the  primitive  Christians  and  the  early  French  Protestants 
were  distinguished. 

To  allude,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  anxiety  which  the 
Protestant  Church  of  France  manifested  for  peace  and  unity 
in  her  own  borders,  we  have  a  striking  illustration  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  Privas  in  1612.  It  would  seem 
that,  in  spite  of  all  the  motives  to  union  which  a  state  of 
partial  persecution  supplied,  considerable  division  prevailed 
among  the  Protestants  of  France.  It  does  not  very  clearly 
appear  what  was  the  cause;  probably  it  was  owing  to  their 
Popish  enemies,  who  laboured  to  sow  discord  among  the 
Protestants,  as  one  of  the  ways  of  weakening  their  power. 
Whatever  might  be  the  cause,  as  soon  as  tlie  Church  was 
generally  aware  of  the  evil,  her  representative  body,  the 
Synod,  drew  up  a  long  and  earnest  recommendation,  entitled 
*' The  Act  of  Reunion,"  in  which  all  ihe  members  of  the 
Church,  and  especially  those  in  influential  situations,  are 
called  upon  to  exert  themselves,  with  all  zeal  and  affection, 
to  bring  about  complete  and  universal  harmony.  Men  of 
infidel  leanings  have  alleged  that  Christians  delight  in  strife 
and  war,  and  have  turned  this  as  an  argument  against  Chris- 
tianity ;  but  not  to  inquire  whether  multitudes  of  those  whom 
they  account  Christians  are  really  so,  and  deserve  any  Aveight 
in  the  question,  let  the  following  sentences,  from  the  Act  of 
the  Synod  of  Privas.  be  considered,  and  then  let  the  reader 
judge  whether  true  Christianity  holds  any  connection  with 
dissension  and  warfare: — "The  present  National  Synod  of 
the  Reformed  Churches  in  this  kingdom  desiring  to  secure 
the  peace  and  union  of  the  said  churches,  and  inflamed  with 
the  zeal  of  God's  house  and  glory,  and  grieved  to  see  Satan 
sowing  the  seeds  of  discord  amongst  us,  which  redound  to  the 
weakening  and  infamy  of  said  churches,  and  may,  in  after 
times,  produce  worse  and  more  dangerous  effects,  moved 
with  charity  towards  the  members  of  our  body,  and  being 
willing  to  make  some  provision  for  a  fraternal  concord,  the 
indispensable  duty  of  all  the  faithful,  hath,  and  doth  now  re- 
solve to  exert  itself,  even  unto  the  utmost,  for  the  compass- 
ing of  a  blessed  and  holy  peace  and  reunion  among  ourselves, 
under  their  Majesties'  authority."  All  persons  are  exhorted 
to  labour  that  the  memory  of  past  differences  be  buried  in 
oblivion,  and  that  all  may  become  peace-makers,  "  that  so 
the  several  humours,  and  different  opinions  risen  up  in  the 


OF    FRANCE.  173 

Assembly  of  Saumur,  may  be  balanced,  allayed  and  com- 
posed." With  this  view,  several  gentlemen  of  the  highest 
rank,  lords  and  dukes  (for  the  Protestant  Church  could  still 
boast  of  some  of  the  first  families,)  were  appointed  to  confer 
with  a  committee  of  the  Synod,  and  with  the  Government, 
being  first  exhorted  to  lay  aside  their  own  differences  and 
resentments,  and  then  do  what  in  them  lay  to  remove  the 
misapprehensions  and  prejudices  of  others;  and  for  the  bet- 
ter prosecution  of  this  great  and  good  object,  the  Synod  pro- 
mises to  defray  any  necessary  expenses  which  might  be  in- 
curred. 

Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  or  earnest  than  some  of 
the  conckiding  sentences  of  the  Act  of  Synod:  "  Moreover, 
this  Assembly  entreateth  and  exhorteth  that,  for  God's  sake 
and  glory  of  his  great  name,  and  their  own  salvation,  and 
the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  nation,  yea,  it  adjures,  by  all 
that  is  desirable  or  commendable,  the  whole  body  of  our 
communion  in  general,  and  every  faithful  soul  in  particular, 
to  divest  themselves  of  all  animosities  whatsoever,  and  to 
lop  off  immediately  all  dissolutions  and  dissensions,  lest 
they  should  be  the  causes  of  the  dissipation  of  the  churches 
of  God  in  this  kingdom,  which  have  been  planted  in  the 
blood  of  martyrs,  and  preserved  by  the  zeal  and  concord 
of  our  fathers ;  and  that  they  would  at  length  open  their 
eyes,  and  see  and  consider  that  their  churches'  enemies  bot- 
tom all  their  designs  of  ruining  us  upon  our  own  intestine 
dissensions,  and  that,  by  reason  of  these,  we  are  become 
very  little  and  exceeding  despicable  with  our  adversaries; 
and  all  pastors  and  elders  of  churches  are  enjoined  diligently 
to  procure  the  reunion  of  the  respective  members  of  their 
flocks,  and  to  lend  one  another  their  helping  hand  to  effect 
so  good  a  work,  and  mightily  to  insist  upon  it  in  their  public 
sermons  and  private  exhortations  and  remonstrances." 

Do  these  things  look  like  indifference  to  peace  ?  Do  they 
show  any  love  for  discord  and  war?  Men,  indeed,  may  be 
closely  united,  especially  in  public  objects,  and  yet  be  stran- 
gers to  Christian  peace  and  love.  The  members  of  the 
('hurch  of  Rome  are  an  illustration  of  this;  but  the  French 
Protestants  were  animated  by  Christian  motives.  They 
contended  for  union,  not  to  subserve  the  interests  of  party, 
but  for  the  sake  of  the  Divine  glory,  and  for  the  wider  diffu- 
sion of  Divine  truth. 

Secondly.  Those  who  were  so  anxious  for  union  at  home, 
and  among  themselves,  could  not  be  insensible  to  its  claims  and 


174  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

advantages  among  Christian  Churches  at  a  distance.     Hence 
the  Christians  of  France  were  most  desirous  of  fraternal  cor- 
respondence with  foreign  Churches.     They  did  not,  at  a 
time  w^hen  intercourse  with  other  nations  was  much  more 
difficult  than  it  is  now,  think  it  enough  to  care  for  them- 
selves.    They  comprehended  other  Christians,  though  not 
at  one  with  them  in  all  the  external  forms  of  religion,  in  their 
sympathy  and  affection.     So  early  as  1603,  we  find  the  Sy- 
nod of  Gap  despatching  letters  to  the  orthodox  Univerities 
of  Germany,  England,  Scotland,  Geneva,   Basil,  and  Ley- 
den,  and  to  certain  gendemen  in  London,  entreating  them  to 
assist  in  holding  a  conference  Avith  the  Lutheran  Churches 
of  Germany,  that  so  the  schism  between  them  and  the  Church 
of  France  might  be  removed.     Princes  also  are  entreated  to 
assist  in  effecting  this  holy  union.     The  great  desire  is,  that 
all  may  be  more  firmly  united  in  the  confession  of  the  same 
doctrine.     Four  years  later,   in  furtherance  of  this  object, 
there  are  letters  from  the  Prince  Palatine  and  the  Ecclesias- 
astical   Senate  of  the  Palatinate,  the  University  of  Heidel- 
berg, Synods  of  Holland  and  Zealand,  the  Canton  of  Beam, 
and  Church  of  Geneva.     These,  all  showing  sincere  affec- 
tion for  the  end   in  view,  the   French  Synod  render  most 
hearty  thanks  to  God,  and  earnesUy  hope  that,  in  reward  of 
their   perseverance,  the  Lord   will  be  graciously  pleased  to 
touch  ihe  hearts  of  those  who  yet  dissent  from  and  disagree. 
"  And  all  persons  are  exhorted  to  be  mighty  wresders  with 
God,  in  humble  and  ardent  prayers,  that  it  may  be  effected." 
In  1614,  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  by  a  Mr.  Hume,  a  na- 
tive of  Scotland,  who  had  been  for  some  years  a  minister  of 
the  Church  of  France,  sent  a  letter  to  the  Synod  meeting  at 
Tonniers,  strongly  advising  them  to  procure  and  maintain  a 
firm  union-  in  points  of  doctrine  among  the  pastors,  profes- 
sors, and  otlier  members  of  the  French  Church,  and  not  to 
quarrel  wiUi  the  divines  of  Germany,  or  any  others.  Instead 
of  taking  amiss  this  advice  from  a  foreigner,  the  Synod  hum- 
bly accepted  and  rejoiced  in  it,  and  drew  up  a  long  chapter 
entiUed,   "  Expedients  for  reuniting  the  Christian  Churches 
which  have  shook  off  the  Papal  yoke,  and  for  composing  the 
differences  which  are  already  risen,  or  may  hereafter  rise  up 
among  them."     They  speak  of  a  union  and  agreement  be- 
tween Churches  as  a  most  useful,  pious,  and  necessary  work, 
and  very  feasible,  and  the  differences  between  them  as  con- 
sisting, not  in  fundamental  articles  of  faith,  but  "  in  the  quil- 
lets of  ceremonies  and  church  government."    They  propose 


OF    FRANCE. 


175 


that  a  conference  should  be  held  of  good  men,  of  different 
Churches  and  nations,  to  decide  on  the  terms  of  union;  and 
that  they  should  begin  their  labours  by  partaking  together  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  and  calling  for  a  universal  fast  throughout 
the  Churches,  "  in  order  to  the  drawing  down  of  the  blessing 
of  God  upon  it,  and  to  touch  the  hearts  of  the  people  with 
respect  and  reverence  for  it."  They  propose  that  sectarian 
names  of  distinction,  such  as  Lutheran,  Calvinisl,  Sacramen- 
tarian,  should  be  utterly  abolished,  and  that  the  Churches 
should  be  known  by  the  name  of  the  Christian  Reformed 
Churches  ;  and  further,  and  as  a  chief  recommendation,  they 
propose  that,  at  certain  times,  there  should  be  an  interchange 
of  ministerial  services  between  the  pastors  of  the  different 
Churches,  such  as  at  present  subsists  betwixt  the  Church  of 
Scotland  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ireland. 

Many  imagine  that  the  early  Protestant  Churches  were 
bigots  to  their  own  forms;  had  no  sympathy  with  other 
Christians,  unless  in  every  point  they  reflected  their  own 
image;  and  that  Christians  of  the  present  day  are  much  more 
liberal  and  reasonable  in  these  respects  than  their  fathers. 
But  this  is  a  misapprehension.  The  early  Protestants,  whe- 
ther Calvinists  or  Lutherans,  were  much  too  warm  in  their 
religion,  to  stand  highly  upon  forms.  It  is  generally  a  cold 
and  declining  period  of  the  Church  which  makes  religion 
consist  in  points  of  external  ceremonial.  Accordingly,  the 
Church  of  France,  thouo[h  Presbyterian,  was  ready  to  em- 
brace the  Lutherans  of  Germany  wMth  open  arms;  and  hence 
we  have  the  following  deliverance  of  the  second  Synod  of 
Charenton  in  1631,  more  than  two  Imndred  years  ago,  in  a 
chapter  styled  "  An  Act  in  favour  of  the  Lutheran  Brethren." 
"  This  Synod  declareth,  that  inasmuch  as  the  Churches  of 
the  Confession  of  Augsburg  do  agree  with  the  other  reformed 
Churches  in  the  principal  and  fundamental  points  of  true  re- 
ligion, and  that  there  is  neither  superstition  nor  idolatry  in 
their  worship,  the  faithful  of  said  Confession,  who,  with  a 
spirit  of  love  and  peaceableness,  do  join  themselves  to  the 
communion  of  our  churches  in  this  kingdom,  may  be,  with- 
out any  abjuration  at  all  made  by  them,  admitted  unto  the 
Lord's  Table  with  us,  and  as  sureties,  may  present  children 
unto  baptism;  they  promising  the  Consistory  that  they  will 
never  solicit  them,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  transgress 
the  doctrine  believed  and  professed  in  our  churches,  but  will 
be  content  to  instruct  and  educate  them  in  those  points  and 
articles  which  are  in  common  between  us  and  them,  and 


176  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

wherein  both  the  Lutherans  and  we  are  unanimously  agreed." 
Had  such  a  sph'it  as  this  been  transmitted  to  after  genera- 
tions, we  would  not  have  been  so  famihar,  as  we  unhappily 
are,  with  separation  and  exclusion  among  Christian  Churches 
which  hold  the  same  great  confession  of  doctrine  and  duty; 
nor  would  Christians  only  be  beginning  to  think  of  the  obli- 
gations of  union.  The  Protestant  Church  of  France  did  not 
confine  herself  to  strong  recommendations  of  peace  and  union 
with  foreign  Churches.  These  are  interesting  illustrations 
of  her  spirit,  but  she  embodied  her  sentiments  in  action.  She 
gladly  numbered  the  ministers  of  several  foreign  Churches 
among  her  own,  and  allotted  them  a  sphere  of  labour  within 
her  borders.  We  read  of  several  ministers  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  being  at  the  same  period  ministers  of  the  Church 
of  France.  In  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  there 
are  the  names  of  fourteen  Scotchmen  among  the  professors 
and  ministers  of  France:  Gilbert  and  David  Primrose,  J. 
Hamilton  and  Son,  Adamson,  Duncan,  Sharp,  Fergusson, 
Simpson,  Thompson,  Hume,  Hog,  Lundy,  and  Boyd.  So 
early  as  1607,  Mr.  Primrose,  a  native  of  this  country,  was 
minister  of  Bordeaux.  On  presenting  letters  from  the  magis- 
trates and  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  and  also  from  the  Kino^  of 
Great  Britain,  to  the  Synod  of  Rochelle,  praying  that  he 
might  be  released  from  his  charge  in  France,  and  restored  to 
the  Church  of  Edinburgh,  the  Synod  earnestly  entreated  him 
to  consider  well  all  the  circumstances,  "  and  to  have  a  tender 
care  and  respect  to  the  Church  of  Bordeaux,  which,  by  his 
most  fruitful  preaching,  and  exemplary  godly  conversation, 
had  been  exceedingly  edified."  He  promised  not  to  move 
till  he  saw  Bordeaux  better  supplied.  Mr.  John  Welch,  the 
celebrated  son-in-law  of  the  still  more  celebrated  John  Knox, 
was  another  of  the  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  who 
became  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  France.  His  services 
also  were  gladly  received,  and  highly  appreciated.  From  a 
short  History  of  his  "  Life  and  Sufljerings,"  I  extract  the 
following  interesting  sentences: — "Now  the  time  is  come 
he  must  leave  Scotland,  and  never  to  see  it  again.  So,  upon 
the  7th  of  November  1606,  in  the  morning,  he,  with  his 
neighbours,  took  ship  at  Leith;  and  though  it  was  but  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  many  were  waiting  on,  with  their 
afflicted  families,  to  bid  them  farewell.  After  prayer,  they 
sung  the  23d  Psalm ;  and  so,  with  the  great  grief  of  the  spec- 
tators, set  sail  for  the  south  of  France,  and  landed  in  the  river 
of  Bordeaux.     Within  fourteen  weeks  of  his  arrival,  such 


OF    FRANCE. 


177 


was  the  Lord's  blessins:  upon  his  diligence,  he  was  able  to 
preach  in  French,  and  accordingly  was  speedily  called  to  the 
ministry,  first  in  one  village,  and  then  in  another.  One  of 
them  was  Nerac;  and  thereafter  was  settled  in  St.  Jean  d'An- 
gely,  a  considerable  walled  town,  and  there  he  continued  the 
rest  of  the  time  he  sojourned  in  France,  which  was  about 
sixteen  years."  Mr.  David  Hume,  pastor  of  the  church  at 
]3uras  in  France,  we  have  seen,  was,  in  1614,  the  bearer  of  a 
letter  from  James  VI.  to  the  Synod  of  Tonniers.  He  also 
was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  seems  to  have  been  on  a  visit 
to  his  native  country  when  he  received  the  royal  commis- 
sion. 

Nor  did  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  only  avail  her- 
self, with  all  gladness,  of  the  services  of  foreign  ministers; 
she  was  not  backward,  in  return,  to  lend  ministers  of  her 
own  number  to  those  foreign  Churches  which  needed  their 
aid.  We  read,  in  1620,  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and  the 
curators  of  the  university  of  Leyden,  applying  for  M.  Rivet, 
a  French  minister,  to  act  as  professor  of  divinity,  either  for 
life,  or  till  the  next  meeting  of  Synod.  The  Synod  of  Alez 
gave  their  judgment  on  the  request  in  these  words: — "This 
Assembly,  highly  valuing  the  favour  and  honour  of  such  an 
illustrious  prince,  and  his  great  merits,  from  all  the  reformed 
Churches,  and  that  most  strict  and  entire  union  betwixt  the 
holy  churches  of  the  Netherlands  and  ours  of  France,  doth 
yield  that  the  said  M.  Rivet  shall  be  continued  for  two  years 
more  unto  the  famous  University  of  Leyden,  which  term  be- 
ing expired,  he  shall  return  to  his  church,  according  to  the 
agreement  passed  between  them." 

Such  are  a  few  illustrations  of  the  spirit  of  the  early  Pro- 
testant Church  of  France  ;  and  surely  there  is  nothing  in  it 
which  savours  of  the  bigoted  and  exclusive,  far  less  of  the 
bitter  and  hateful.  It  is  throughout  the  spirit  of  peace,  and 
love,  and  union  among  all  the  followers  of  Christ — a  spirit 
far  superior  to  that  which  is  entertained  and  manifested  by 
not  a  few  professedly  Christian  Churches  at  the  present  day. 

I  need  say  little  of  this  aspect  of  character  exhibited  by  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  in  the  parallel  period  of  her  history.  It 
were  easy  to  show  that  her  love  of  peace  and  union,  at  home 
and  abroad,  was  not  inferior  to  that  of  the  Church  of  France. 
Her  enlarged  and  generous  views  of  the  true  nature  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  as  discovered  in  her  early  standards,  and 
the  deep  interest  which  she  took  in  the  welfare  of  foreign 

12 


178 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


Churches,  though  their  forms  might  not  at  all  accord  with 
her  own,  as  discovered  in  her  early  history,  are  well  known 
to  those  who  have  made  the  Church  of  Scotland,  even  par- 
tially, a  subject  of  study.  Let  me  merely  refer  to  a  few 
points.  Though  occupying  a  small  mountainous  country, 
and  differing  materially,  at  least  in  form,  from  the  religious 
observances  of  the  larger  part  of  the  island,  there  is  nothing 
narrow  or  exclusive  in  the  spirit  or  practice  of  the  early 
Church  of  Scotland.  In  her  Confessions  of  Faith  and  Cate- 
chisms, and  the  forms  of  public  prayer  which  were  drawn 
up  for  the  use  of  the  Catechists  and  Scripture  readers, 
who  were  employed  in  the  absence  of  a  stated  ministry, 
THE  CHURCH  UNIVERSAL  evidently  holds  a  prominent  place. 
The  Scots  Confession  of  Faith,  of  1650,  begins  by  wishing 
"  Grace,  mercy  and  peace  to  all  the  realms  where  the  true 
knowledge  of  Christ  is  professed,"  whether  that  profession 
be  in  the  Presbyterian  form  or  not.  There  are  also  prayers 
for  particular  Churches  under  trial — as  for  the  Reformed 
Church  of  England,  though  her  government  was  Episcopal. 
It  is  well  known  that  in  early  days,  those  of  Edward  VI., 
the  Reformers  of  the  Continent  and  of  Britain  contemplated 
a  grand  Protestant  league,  which  only  the  fraudulent  machi- 
nations of  Popery  defeated,  by  sending  emissaries  of  discord 
from  abroad  under  the  guise  of  friends.  In  such  a  bond, 
none  could  rejoice  more  tiian  the  fathers  of  the  Scottish 
Church.  After  the  days  of  Edward,  when  the  Episcopacy 
of  the  Church  of  England  became  much  more  rigid  and  ex- 
clusive, and  the  hope  of  further  reformation  began  to  grow 
faint;  above  all,  when  the  Erastianism  of  James  and  the 
semi-poper}'-  of  Charles  I.  had  inflicted  serious  injury  upon 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  she  should 
become  cool,  nay,  opposed  to  that  Church.  The  Church  of 
England  could  be  no  longer  regarded  as  the  same  Christian 
body;  and,  indeed,  she  was  then  daily  approximating  much 
nearer  to  the  new  Popish  school,  than  the  evangelical  portion 
of  the  English  Church  at  the  present  day.  But  the  Church 
of  Scotland  still  cherished  the  warmest  sympathy  and  benev- 
olence for  the  foreign  Churches  of  the  Reformation,  as  we 
have  seen  from  her  generous  contributions  in  their  behalf; 
and  she  clierished  similar  feelings  towards  the  evangelical 
and  reforming  party  in  England,  usually  called  the  Puritans, 
a  party,  be  it  remembered,  not  inconsiderable,  as  many  ima- 
gine, but  almost  dividing  the  country,  and  embracing  much, 
if  not  most,  of  the  ministerial  talent,  and  learning,  and  use- 


OP    FRANCE.  179 

fulness  of  the  time.  When  Charles,  by  the  semi-popish 
counsels  of  Laud,  had  brought  matters  to  such  a  pass  that 
the  country  was  involved  in  civil  war,  and  the  Episcopal 
Establishment  was  subverted,  never  did  any  party  show 
greater  anxiety,  or  labour  with  greater  zeal  and  self-denial 
for  Christian  union,  than  the  Church  of  Scotland.  She 
sought  to  bind  the  three  kingdoms  into  a  holy  brotherhood; 
and  had  all  parties  been  as  much  under  the  influence  of  reli- 
gious principle  as  she  was — apart  from  political  motives — 
she  would  have  been  much  more  successful.  Her  corres- 
pondence with  the  Westminster  Assembly  breathes  the  most 
earnest  desire  for  peace  and  uniformity.  Her  chief  hostility 
is  to  Popery  under  its  different  phases;  and  unsuccessful  as 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  from  unhappy  circumstances,  was, 
in  bringing  about  so  perfect  and  permanent  a  concord  with 
the  Christian  Churches  of  England  and  Ireland,  as  she 
longed  and  laboured  after,  yet  such  root  had  her  principles 
taken  in  England,  that  on  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  Unifor- 
mity by  Charles  H.,  not  less  than  two  thousand  Presbyterian 
ministers  were  ejected  from  their  charges — men  of  whom 
historians  have  related,  that  "  to  say  that  they  far  excelled 
any  whom  England  can  produce  at  the  present  day,  in  learn- 
ing and  worth,  would  not  be  flattery,  but  faint  praise."  At 
the  same  time,  it  is  believed  nearly  one-half  of  the  religious 
part  of  the  community  left  the  fellowship  of  the  Established 
Church.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten,  that  such  was  the 
strength  of  the  Presbyterians  of  England,  that  after  prepa- 
ring, during  the  dread  silence  of  above  twenty  years  of  per- 
secution, theological  works  which  have  constituted  an  impor- 
tant part  of  the  food  of  the  Christian  Church  in  every  subse- 
quent age  to  the  present  hour,  she  burst  out  into  such  vigour 
the  moment  the  Toleration  Act  was  passed,  that  in  twenty- 
five  years  she  could  boast  of  an  accession  of  eight  hundred 
newly  erected  places  of  worship.  It  would  be  difficult,  in 
the  same  period,  to  point  to  any  religious  party  which  indi- 
cated greater  spiritual  vitality;  and  yet  they  were  the  friends 
and  brothers  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  Their  love  of  peace 
and  union,  too,  is  well  known.  The  celebrated  Richard 
Baxter  might,  in  this  respect,  be  said  to  be  their  represen- 
tative. From  the  absence  of  the  exercise  of  Presbyterian 
Church  government,  however,  and  other  causes,  the  Pres- 
byterian professors  of  England,  like  many  others,  became 
unsound  in  doctrine,  and  have  long  ceased  to  be  a  distinctive 
body.      The  Church  of  Scotland,  too,  with  her  religious 


180 


PROTESTANT  CHURCH 


declension  in  the  last  century,  ceased  to  be  so  warm  in  her 
affection  for  other  Churches.  She  did  not  care  for  Chris- 
tian union  as  she  had  once  done;  but,  blessed  be  God!  she 
is  in  this,  as  in  many  respects,  reviving  and  setting  an  ex- 
ample to  others  of  renewed  Christian  harmony.  She  has 
received  to  her  pale  those  who  have  been  separated  for  a 
century;  she  has  opened  her  pulpits  to  the  Presbyterians  of 
England  and  Ireland;  and  is  at  the  present  moment  entering 
into  friendly  correspondence  with  various  Churches,  particu- 
larly on  the  Continent  and  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
and  taking  important  steps  for  making  all  who  are  at  one  in 
great  principles,  one  also  in  visible  communion.  In  short, 
she  is  renewing  the  spirit  of  her  early  days.  If  it  ever  was 
supposed  that  Presbyterian  Church  government  was  adverse 
to  peace  and  union,  either  at  home  or  abroad,  such  an  idea 
must  rapidly  disappear  before  the  most  pleasing  evidence  to 
the  contrary.  The  facts  to  which  I  have  alluded,  all  show 
the  depth  of  the  Church's  principle  and  piety,  and  rebuke 
the  sweeping  charges  brought  by  the  friends  of  intidelity 
against  the  peaceable  character  of  Christianity  and  of  Chris- 
tian Churches.  But  a  vast  deal  remains  to  be  done  in  all  the 
Churches  of  the  Reformation,  before  their  members  shall  see 
eye  to  eye,  and  the  peace  of  Jerusalem  be  universally  estab- 
lished. The  God  of  truth  has  promised,  and  will  accom- 
plish the  promise  in  his  own  good  time.  Let  us  join  our 
prayers  for  its  fulfilment  with  those  of  the  ascended  Saviour. 
Jesus  said,  "  I  pray  for  those  that  shall  believe  on  me 
through  their  (his  disciples)  word;  that  they  all  may  be  one; 
as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may 
be  one  in  us :  that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent 
me." 

SECTION  VI. 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  FRANCE  AND  SCOTLAND  PROTEST    AGAINST    THE    CORRUP- 
TIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME. 

The  different  features  in  the  character  of  the  Protestant 
Church  of  France,  which  I  have  already  presented,  are,  1 
humbly  conceive,  in  no  small  degree,  decisive  of  her  truly 
Christian  spirit.  The  feature  to  which  I  have  now  to  call 
the  reader's  attention  is  scarcely  less  interesting,  while  it  is, 
if  possible,  a  still  more  striking  illustration  of  lier  attachment 
to  the  Gospel  of  Christ.     The  feature  to  which  I  allude  is, 

HER    MANLY    PROTEST    AGAINST     THE     CORRUPTIONS     OF     THE 


OF    FRANCE.  181 

CHURCH  OF  ROME.  Many,  especially  at  the  present  day, 
have  light  views  of  Popery.  They  look  upon  it  as  one  of 
the  many  forms  of  Christianity,  and  see  nothing  very  serious 
in  its  evils.  Widely  different  are  the  views  of  Scripture 
upon  the  subject.  The  Word  of  God  describes  Popery  as 
the  great  enemy  of  Christ  and  of  his  Church,  and  denounces 
against  its  adherents  the  most  dreadful  doom,  reaching  to 
nothing  short  of  utter  destruction.  Popery  runs,  through- 
out, directly  counter  to  all  that  is  peculiar  and  vital  in  the 
truth  of  God,  subverting  the  law,  and  marring  the  Gospel, 
and  perverting  ordinances.  Indeed,  it  seems  a  grand  device 
of  Satan  to  neutralize  the  whole  scheme  of  Divine  Revela- 
tion. The  Reformers,  and  the  Churches  which  they  plan- 
ted, were  familiarly  acquainted  with  it  in  its  true  spirit  and 
operation  from  sad  experience:  hence  they  drew  up  their 
Confessions  of  Faith,  armed  against  it  at  every  point.  In- 
stead of  cultivating  any  alliance  with  the  Church  of  Rome, 
they  dreaded  the  most  distant  approach  to  union,  and  con- 
structed their  most  important  measures  of  Church  discipline, 
schools,  (fee,  in  such  a  way  as  to  weaken  and  counteract 
Popery  on  every  hand.  We  do  not  gready  wonder  at  their 
zeal.  Just  as  men  know,  and  value,  and  love  the  Gospel  of 
the  grace  of  God,  must  they  hate  Popery ;  while  a  thorough 
acquaintance  with  Popery  seems  almost  essential  to  the  en- 
lightened appreciation  of  the  Gospel,  the  dark  ground  of  the 
picture  setting  off  the  illuminated  figures  the  more  brightly 
and  impressively.  The  early  Church  of  France,  though 
seated  in  the  heart  of  a  great  Popish  country,  with  compara- 
tively few  adherents,  subjected  to  many  privations  and  op- 
pressions, and  in  danger  of  provoking  fresh  assaults,  yet 
lifted  up  a  bold  protest  against  the  errors  and  corruptions  of 
the  Romish  Church.  She  inserted  among  her  articles  of 
faith,  the  following  strong,  but  just  representation  of  Anti- 
christ. We  give  the  form  in  which  it  was  put  by  the  Synod 
of  Gap  in  1603:— 

"  That  article  treating  of  Antichrist  shall  be  the  one  and 
thirtieth  in  order  in  our  Confession  of  Faith,  and  shall  be 
thus  worded:  Whereas  the  Bishop  of  Rome  hath  erected  for 
himself  a  temporal  monarchy  in  the  Christian  world,  and 
usurping  a  sovereign  authority  and  lordship  overall  churches 
and  pastors,  doth  exalt  himself  to  that  degree  of  insolency, 
as  to  be  called  God,  and  will  be  adored,  arrogating  unto  him- 
self all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  and  to  dispose  of  all 
ecclesiastical  matters,  to  define  articles  of  faith,  to  authorize 


182 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


and  expound  at  his  pleasure  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  to 
buy  and  sell  the  souls  of  men — to  dispense  with  vows,  oaths 
and  covenants,  and  to  institute  new  ordinances  of  religious 
worship:  and  in  the  civil  state  he  tramples  under  foot  all 
lawful  authority  of  magistrates — setting  up  and  pulling  down 
kings,  disposing  of  kings  and  of  their  kingdoms  at  his  plea- 
sure •  We  therefore  believe  and  maintain  that  he  is  truly  and 
properly  The  Antichrist,  the  Son  of  Perdition,  predicted  in 
the  holy  prophets — that  great  whore  clothed  with  scarlet, 
sitting  upon  seven  mountains  in  that  great  city,  which  had 
dominion  over  the  kings  of  the  earth;  and  we  hope,  and 
wait,  that  the  Lord,  according  to  his  promise,  and  as  he  hath 
already  begun,  will  confound  him  by  the  Spirit  of  his  mouth, 
and  destroy  him  finally  by  the  brightness  of  his  coming." — 
Again, 

"  Divers  pastors  and  members  of  several  churches  remon- 
strated in  this  Assembly,  how  they  had  been  troubled  and 
prosecuted  for  calling  the  Pope  Antichrist  in  their  private 
and  public  discourses.  This  Synod  protesting  that  this  was 
the  common  faith  and  confession  of  all  our  churches,  and  of 
this  present  Synod,  that  the  Pope  is  the  Great  Antichrist, 
and  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  our  separation  and  depar- 
ture from  the  Church  of  Rome;  and  that  this  confession  was 
contained  in,  and  extracted  out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures;  that 
it  liad  been  sealed  with  the  blood  of  a  world  of  martyrs : 
Therefore,  all  the  faithful,  be  they  pastors  or  private  Chris- 
tians, are  exhorted  constantly  to  persist  in  the  profession  of 
it,  and  openly  and  boldly  to  confess  it;  yea,  and  this  very  ar- 
ticle shall  be  inserted  into  the  body  of  the  Confession  of  our 
Faith;  and  the  general  deputies  of  our  churches  at  court  are 
required  to  petition  his  Majesty,  that  none  of  his  officers,  in 
any  sovereign  or  other  inferior  courts  of  judicature,  may  be 
suffered  to  infringe  our  liberty  of  conscience,  granted  us  by 
his  edicts,  of  making  a  free  confession  of  our  faith,  and  that 
none  of  them  may  trouble  or  vex  us,  as  di\ers  of  them  liave 
done  for  this  very  matter.  And  whoso  are  now  prosecuted 
and  molested  on  this  account,  or  may  be  hereafter,  they  shall 
be  supported  and  defended  by  the  whole  body  of  the  churches 
in  the  best  manner  tliat  can  be,  according  to  that  firm  bond 
of  union  which  is  established  among  us.  And  letters  shall 
be  written  to  our  lords,  the  judges  in  the  mixed  courts,  to  ex- 
hort them  vigorously  to  maintain  this  article  of  our  common 
confession." 

It  would  seem  that  this  bold  statement  gave  great  offence. 


OF   FRANCE.  183 

The  king,  led  on  by  his  Popish  priests,  was  highly  dis- 
pleased, and  expressed  his  displeasure  to  the  Synod  of  Ro- 
chelle,  which  met  four  years  after;  but  while  every  disposi- 
tion was  manifested  to  avoid  unnecessary  offence,  the  Pro- 
testant Church  strictly  adhered  to  the  honest  confession 
which  she  made.  Having  reweighed  the  article,  she  unani- 
mously approved  of  its  form  and  substance,  "  as  very  true, 
and  agreeing  with  Scripture  prophecy;"  on  which  it  was  re- 
solved, that  it  should  continue  in  its  place,  and  be  printed  in 
every  copy  which  came  from  the  press.  This  was  decided 
ground,  and  long  after  was  steadily  maintained.  Above  fifty 
years  later,  in  1659,  when  persecution  became  more  oppres- 
sive, as  the  day  for  revoking  the  edict  of  Nantes  approached, 
we  find  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  struggling  for  her 
old  principles.  "  As  for  those  words  Antichrist,'*''  say  they, 
"  in  our  liturgy,  and  idolatry,  and  deceits  of  Satan,  which 
are  found  in  our  Confession,  they  be  words  declaring  the 
ground  and  reason  of  our  separation  from  the  Romish 
Church,  and  doctrines  which  our  fathers  maintained  in  the 
worst  of  times,  and  wliich  we  are  fully  resolved  as  they, 
through  the  aids  of  Divine  grace,  never  to  abandon,  but  to 
keep  faidifully  and  inviolably  to  the  last  gasp."  Unlike  the 
latitudinarians  of  later  days,  the  Christians  of  France  were 
not  afraid  to  call  things  by  their  right  names.  They  were 
not  frightened,  by  charges  of  uncharitableness,  from  apply- 
ing the  language  of  Scripture  to  the  enemies  of  the  Lord. 
Nor  did  they  content  themselves  with  putting  on  record  a 
general  declaration  against  Popery — they  were  forward  to 
denounce  and  expose  particular  errors  as  often  as  the  circum- 
stances of  the  times  required  it.  It  might  have  been  expect- 
ed, that  the  harsh  treatment  which,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
they  had  ever  experienced  at  the  hands  of  tlie  civil  power, 
would  have  prejudiced  them  against  kingly  authority ;  but 
no.  Regarding  civil  rule  as  the  ordinance  of  heaven,  and 
their  great  protection  against  the  usurping  power  of  an  apos- 
tate Church,  they  used  their  best  exertions  against  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Jesuits,  so  fatal  to  the  true  welfare  and  authority 
of  sovereign  princes.  In  1614,  the  Synod  of  Tonniers,  "  de- 
testing that  abominable  doctrine,  together  with  its  authors, 
exhorts  all  the  faithful  of  our  communion  to  abhor  and  exe- 
crate it;  and  all  our  ministers  and  professors  are  to  teach  and 
preach  against  it  powerfully,  and  to  batter  it  down  with  force 
of  arguments,  and  to  defend,  at  the  same  time,  conjointly 
together,  the  rights  of  God,  and  those  of  the  higher  powers 


184  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

ordained  by  him."  This  showed  noble  superiority  to  pre- 
judice, and  enlightened  regard  to  the  authority  of  the  Word 
of  God. 

Passing  from  strong  statements  against  Popish  doctrines, 
we  may  now  proceed  to  notice  the  actual  discipline  of  the 
Protestant  Church  of  France,  as  illustrating  the  same  decid- 
ed and  Scriptural  attachment  to  sound  principle.  While  far 
from  being  rigid  in  small  and  indifferent  matters,  she  forbade 
her  members  lending  the  least  countenance  or  encouragement 
to  Popery  in  any  of  its  forms.  Hearing  that  some  of  them, 
in  1631,  hung  their  houses  and  lighted  candles  in  honour  of 
a  Popish  festival,  the  second  Synod  at  Charenton  are  deeply 
concerned  that  any  Christians  should  have  awarded  to  the 
creature  the  self-same  honour  which  is  due  to  the  Creator, 
and  express  themselves  in  strong  language.  Would  to  God 
that  the  Christians  of  this  country  would  speak  out  against 
the  British  encouragement  which  is  at  present  yielded  to  the 
superstitions  and  idolatry  of  the  East,  in  the  same  bold 
strain ! 

"This  Assembly,  wanting  words  with  which  it  may  ex- 
press its  just  grief  and  resentment  for  such  an  inexcusable 
cowardliness,  doth  adjure  the  consciences  of  those  persons 
who  haven  fallen  into  sins  so  repugnant  unto  true  piety,  by 
the  fear  of  the  living  God,  by  the  zeal  of  his  glory,  by  the 
bowels  of  his  mercy  in  the  Son  of  his  dearest  love,  and  by 
that  special  care  the  faithful  ought  to  have  of  their  salvation, 
that  they  would  revive  the  zeal,  and  show  themselves  loyal 
followers  of  the  faith  and  constancy  of  their  fathers,  and  tes- 
tify, by  their  perseverance  in  well-doing,  the  sincerity  and 
soundness  of  their  repentance,  and  of  their  affection  to  the 
service  of  God.  Moreover,  the  consistory  of  those  places 
where  such  scandals  do  fall  out,  is  enjoined  to  rebuke  them 
with  an  holy  vigour,  who  give  such  an  evil  example;  and  all 
Synods  are  to  proceed  against  them  with  all  ecclesiastical 
censures;  and  if  they  be  pastors  or  elders,  who,  by  their 
connivance  and  dissimulation,  have,  or  for  the  future  may 
favour  such  offenders,  they  shall  not  only  be  suspended,  but 
deposed  also  from  their  offices." 

In  the  same  spirit  tliose  Protestants  are  severely  reproved 
who  show  respect  to  the  Popish  host  as  it  passed  along  the 
streets,  by  taking  off  their  hats.  Protestant  lawyers  are  forbid- 
den to  plead  those  causes  for  Papists  which  were  intended  to 
suppress  the  Word  of  God,  and  set  up  the  mass.  Nor  are 
they  allowed  to  give  their  assistance  in  any  case  which  might 


OF    FRANCE,  185 

be  turned  to  the  oppression  of  the  Protestant  Church.  In 
1637,  we  read  of  a  M.  Fourneaux  and  his  wife  being  sus- 
pended for  a  time  from  Church  privileges  for  allowing  their 
daughter  to  marry  a  Roman  Catholic.  Nor  were  they  ab- 
solved until  they  had  publicly  confessed,  in  the  consistory, 
their  sorrow  for  the  sin  which  their  compromise  of  principle 
had  brought  upon  their  famdy.  A  few  years  later,  we  meet 
with  the  case  of  a  minister  who  M'as  deposed  for  attempting, 
in  an  elaborate  work,  to  reconcile  the  differences  in  doctrine 
between  Popish  and  Protestant  Churches.  This  was  justly 
considered  most  dishonouring  to  the  truth  of  God. 

But  strongly  as  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  was  op- 
posed to  Popery  and  to  all  that  savoured  of  it,  she  cherished 
no  hatred  to  Roman  Catholics  themselves.  Many  seem  to 
think  these  two  are  inseparable — that  hatred  to  a  religious 
system  must  make  us  hate.;its  professors — but  the  very  re- 
verse is  the  truth.  It  is  pity  and  love  for  the  souls  of  men 
which  make  us  detest  the  more  the  fatal  errors  which  would 
destroy  them.  Just  in  proportion  to  our  love  for  the  one  is 
our  hatred  to  the  other.  Accordingly,  we  find  that  the 
French  Protestants  showed  the  utmost  kindness  to  their  poor 
Roman  Catholic  brethren,  and  gave  every  encouragement  to 
them  in  abandoning  the  pernicious  system  in  which  they  had 
been  educated.  In  1614,  we  have  the  following  statement — 
and  till  Protestant  Chuches  now-a-days  favour  converts  from 
the  Church  of  Rome  with  a  better  protection  against  starva- 
tion than  they  often  receive,  the  cause  of  Protestantism  can- 
not be  expected  to  prosper  as  it  deserves: — 

"John  de  Luna  and  Laurens  Fernandez,  both  Spaniards, 
presented  themselves  before  this  Assembly,  with  valid  testi- 
monials from  the  Church  of  Montauban,  declaring  their  ab- 
juration of  Monkery  and  Popery,  and  approving  of  iheir 
conversation  ever  since  their  conversion ;  as  also  Stephen 
Converselt  of  the  Franche  Comte,  who  had  quitted  the  order 
of  the  Dominicans;  and  Peter  Mercurin,  a  provincial,  who 
had  also  abandoned  Popery.  This  Assembly  granted  unto 
the  said  Fernandez,  Conversett,  and  Mercurin,  an  hundred 
and  forty  crowns  a-piece;  and  further  ordaineth,  that  the 
said  Mercurin  shall  be  put  into  the  catalogue  of  Proposans, 
and  be  first  of  all  employed  in  the  ministry  in  Provence. 
And  as  for  John  de  Luna,  who  desires  leave  to  retire  for 
some  time  into  Holland,  there  be  sixty  livres  granted  him  for 
his  voyage.  And  whereas  one  called  Buisson,  born  in  the 
Lower  Guyenne,  is  lately  converted  from  the  Popish  religion 


186 


PBOTESTANT    CHURCH 


unto  the  Reformed,  thirty  livres  are  given  him  towards  his 
relief  until  the  next  Provincial  Synod,  wherein  he  shall  be 
particularly  cared  for." 

But  while  the  French  Protestants  gave  all  due  encourage- 
ment to  serious  inquirers,  and  to  proselytes  from  the  Romish 
faith,  they  were  extremely  cautious  and  guarded  in  receiving 
converts,  and  especially  in  intrusting  them  with  the  office  of 
the  ministry.  They  knew  well  in  what  a  system  of  false- 
hood the  Roman  Catholics  are  born  and  brought  up — what 
varied  temptations  there  are  to  insincerity — how  strong  are 
the  claims  of  divine  truth,  and  how  unexceptionable  all  the 
ministrations  of  divine  ordinances  should  be.  Hence,  they 
were  very  scrupulous  about  Romish  conversions.  It  would 
be  well  if  Protestants  in  Ireland  now  showed  a  little  more  of 
their  spirit.  It  would  save  themselves  not  a  few  disappoint- 
ments, and  the  cause  of  true  religion  not  a  little  reproach. 
Strictness  may  wear  the  aspect  of  severity,  but  in  reality,  it 
is  kindness  to  all  parties.  The  discipline  of  the  French 
Protestant  Church  required  that  priests  or  monks  coming  over 
to  the  Church  should  study  two  full  years  and  give  proof  of 
their  sincerity,  in  that  period,  before  being  admitted  to  the 
ministry.  Such  was  one  of  the  canons ;  and  churches  and  col- 
leges are  earnesdy  exhorted  to  attend  to  it.  The  Synod  of  Ro- 
chelle,  in  1607,  decreed  that  •'  monks  forsaking  Popery  shall 
not  be  received  into  church-fellowship  till  they  be  found  well 
instructed  in  the  grounds  of  the  Reformed  religion,  and  they 
shall  be  sent  back  to  the  provinces  whereof  they  are  natives, 
with  certificates  attesting  for  what  employment  they  are  best 
qualified."  Converted  Roman  Catholics  could  not  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  Church  as  elders  or  deacons  till  after  a  proba- 
tion of  sincerity  for  two  years.  Monks  and  priests  relapsing 
into  Popery  after  for  a  time  being  rescued  from  its  thraldom, 
and  praying  again  to  be  restored  to  the  bosom  of  the  Church 
as  ministers,  were  not  to  be  received  till  there  has  been  "  ten 
year's  trial  of  their  repentance,  nor  shall  they,  when  that 
time  is  expired,  be  admitted  without  the  previous  advice  of 
a  National  Synod;  and  with  regard  to  monks  from  foreign 
quarters,  order  is  given  to  the  provinces  to  examine  them 
most  stricUy  of  their  fitness  to  study  divinity,  "that  so  they 
may  be  supplied  with  maintenance,"  or  employed  in  other 
callings,  according  to  their  capacity. 

While  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  blended  encourage- 
ment with  strictness,  in  her  dealings  with  converts  from  the 
Church  of  Rome,  she  did  not  fail  zealously  to  apply  all  suit- 


OF    FRANCE. 


187 


able  means  to  awaken  men  from  their  errors  and  spiritual 
death.  In  addition  to  the  faithful  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
and  well  appointed  schools,  and  books  on  the  Romish  con- 
troversy, she  instituted  something  like  anti-Popery  lectures. 
She  was  not,  like  many,  frightened  at  the  idea  of  controversy. 
She  knew  that  it  is  essential  to  the  vindication  and  establish- 
ment of  divine  truth,  and  that  there  is  ample  authority  for  it 
in  the  example  of  Scripture.  Hence  the  whole  Popish  con- 
troversy was  divided  into  fourteen  different  parts,  corres- 
ponding to  the  fourteen  provinces  of  the  Protestant  Church ; 
and  "some  worthy  ministers"  were  particularly  called  upon 
to  study  each  part,  and  to  be  prepared  for  the  defence  of  a 
particular  truth  opposed  by  the  great  adversary.  Thus,  to 
the  Province  of  Poitou  was  assigned,  as  a  standing  subject  of 
controversy  with  all  opponents,  "The  Word  of  God,  writ- 
ten and  unwritten," — to  the  Isle  of  France,  "Monks,  lay  and 
clerical,"  &c.  This  indicated  how  serious  were  the  views 
entertained  by  the  Protestant  Church  of  the  evils  and  the 
dangers  of  Popery ;  and  their  conviction  that  Popery  could, 
with  the  Divine  blessing,  be  overcome  only  by  perseverance 
and  long-continued  exertion — the  exposure  of  error  and  the 
circulation  of  truth.  Nor  were  these  exertions  unsuccessful. 
We  read,  so  early  as  1601,  of  numbers  of  the  Romish  church- 
men being  daily  brought  over  to  the  Reformed  religion; 
and  the  churches  are  exhorted  to  keep  a  register  of  their 
names. 

Such  are  a  few  specimens  of  the  spirit  which  the  Protes- 
tant Church  manifested  towards  the  Church  of  Rome  and  her 
adherents,  and  what  can  be  more  enlightened  and  faithful, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  more  truly  charitable  ?  What  better 
proof  can  we  have  of  her  decided  Christianity  ? 

We  may  just  refer  to  the  parallel  period  in  the  history  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland.  From  the  two  parties,  Protestant 
and  Popish,  being  for  a  time  more  nearly  balanced  in  this 
country,  the  violence  of  the  latter  came  out  in  a  more  palpa- 
ble and  proclaimed  form,  and  strong  measures  were  necessa- 
ry in  self-defence.  Moral  means  were  largely  employed,  and 
the  success  was  much  more  rapid  and  extensive  in  Scot- 
land than  in  France.  Some,  such  as  the  controversial,  were 
remarkably  similar,  and  there  were  the  same  jealousy  and 
caution  in  reference  to  professed  converts  from  the  Romish 
faith.  It  may  be  safely  said,  that  if  the  Church  of  Scotland 
was  for  one  thing  more  eminent  than  another  in  early  times, 


188  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

it  was  for  her  vigorous  and  all  compreliensive  protest  against 
the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  Church  of  Rome:  her 
most  ancient  standards  are  a  beautiful  illustration  of  this,  and 
her  subsequent  ones  are  not  wanting  in  force.  It  was  just 
as  she  maintained  a  bold  and  consistent  testimony  against 
Popery,  that  she  flourished;  just  as  she  relaxed  in  her  testi- 
mony, that  she  became  weak  for  good.  The  great  Head  of 
the  Church  honours  those  who  honour  him;  and  it  seems  to 
be  His  will  that  the  best  state  for  his  Church  in  this  world, 
like  the  best  state  for  the  individual  believer,  shall  be  a  mili- 
tant one. 

The  reader  may  be  interested  in  the  following  brief  anti- 
popish  notices  which  I  have  collected.  They  indicate,  that 
the  vigorous  protest  which  was  lifted  up  against  Popery  by 
the  Reformers,  and  their  immediate  successors,  was  main- 
tained with  greater  or  less  energy  through  all  the  period 
which  we  are  contemplating,  and  that  in  spite  of  the  repeated- 
ly adverse  influence  of  the  Crown.  It  appears  that,  in  1593, 
the  General  Assembly,  with  a  maternal  regard  for  the  mer- 
chants of  Scotland,  forbade  any  of  her  people  to  go  to  Spain, 
"  where  the  Inquisition  still  is,  until  the  king  has  got  the 
promise  of  security  for  them  from  the  king  of  Spain."  In 
1612,  orders  are  given  to  obliterate  all  idolatrous  figures  from 
the  Church  of  Foulis.  The  repeated  directions  v/hich  are 
given  in  regard  to  so  minute  a  matter,  prove  how  completely 
the  most  prominent  Popery  of  the  country  had  been  subdu- 
ed. In  1639,  one  of  the  heads  of  examination  for  Presbyte- 
ries is,  "  Whether  there  be  any  Papist  within  their  bounds;" 
and  the  answer  from  the  Synod  of  Fife,  two  years  after,  is, 
that  there  is  no  excommunicated  Papist  in  all  the  province — 
one  of  the  leading  provinces  of  the  kingdom.  A  general  or- 
der is  given  by  the  Synod,  that  all  idolatrous  monuments  be 
defaced;  and  "  the  Church  of  Dairsie  is  to  be  visited,  to  see 
that  the  idolatrous  arms  and  paintings  be  removed."  About 
the  same  period,  the  people  of  Dunfermline  are  forbidden  to 
observe  New  Year's  day  "  by  feasting  and  the  cessation  of 
ordinary  work  ;"  and  the  observance  of  Yule  Day,  in  a  simi- 
lar manner,  is  also  forbidden.  The  origin  of  such  observan- 
ces was,  doubtless,  superstitious.  One  John  Morrice  is 
called  before  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews,  for  pretending 
miraculously  to  heal  disease,  "  as  the  seventh  son  of  a  wo- 
man." And  another  Presbytery  forbad  superstitious  resort- 
ing to  wells  "for  the  cure  of  sick  and  distracted  persons." 
The  latter  is  a  well  known  Popish  practice  to  this  day,  as 


OF    FRANCE.  189 

the  sacred  wells  of  Ireland  can  testify.  To  prevent  also  the 
Popish  mode  of  conducting  funerals,  as  they  are  still  conduct-- 
ed  in  that  country,  the  following  good  rules  were  framed  in 
1664.  It  would  seem  that  the  house  where  the  corpse  lay 
was  sometimes  kept  open,  and  that  a  sort  of  wake  was  held 
— "  dishonouring  to  God,  scandalizing  to  the  Gospel,  and 
fostering  superstition."  Therefore  it  is  ordered,  that  the 
doors  be  kept  close  as  at  other  times,  and  no  admittance  al- 
lowed to  the  confused  multitude.  None  are  to  go  to  the  fu- 
neral uninvited,  and  none  are  to  be  asked  to  the  house  to  bear 
the  dead,  except  three  or  four  grave  kinsfolk  or  friends  wdiom 
they  think  most  meet.  It  is  not  to  be  a  time  of  eating  and 
drinking;  but  the  people  are  to  carry  themselves  Christian- 
ly,  as  men  professing  godliness.  The  heathenish  custom, 
with  a  Popish  name,  of  drinking  dirges  after  the  corpse  is 
interred,  is  to  be  utterly  abolished.  What  is  left  by  the  de- 
ceased to  the  poor,  is  to  be  sent  for,  and  distributed  by  the 
session,  who  know  the  necessities  of  the  people,  and  not  to 
be  given  at  the  grave,  where  there  is  a  great  tumult  of  beg- 
gars, and  those  "  that  cry  most,  and  have  least  need,  come 
often  best  speed."  Among  the  reasons  for  fast-day  appoint- 
ments, the  increase,  or  rather  the  eflbrts  after  the  increase  of 
Popery,  are  repeatedly  assigned.  The  Church  was  pecu- 
liarly sensitive  on  the  subject  of  Popery,  and  seems  to  have 
apprehended  progress  where  there  was  none.  At  the  same 
time,  there  can  be  little  question,  that  Jesuits  and  trafficking 
priests  insinuated  themselves  into  the  country,  under  the 
guise  of  the  nondescript  sects — Quakers  of  the  age  of  Crom- 
well; and  that  the  unhappy  divisions  among  the  Presbyte- 
rian ministry  then  furthered  the  interests  of  a  Church  which 
always  gains  by  disorder  and  confusion.  In  1647,  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  direct  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  "to  take 
inspection  of  Lord  Paisley  (second  earl  of  Abercorn)  and  his 
attendants,  as  also  of  his  education,  considering  that  lie  is  a 
nobleman  come  of  Popish  parents."  Three  years  after  he 
is  excommunicated  for  his  Popery;  and  Lord  Linton  is  sub- 
jected to  the  same  discipline  for  marrying  a  daughter  of  the 
Marquis  of  Hundey,  an  excommunicated  Papist.  Thus 
strongly  did  the  Church  testify  against  Popery,  and  thus 
strictly  and  impartially  did  she  exercise  her  discipline  over 
high  and  low. 


190  PKOTESTANT    CHURCH 


SECTION  VII. 

TIIE    CHURCHES    OF    FRANCE    AND    SCOTLAND    SOUND    IN    DOCTRINE,  AND   THE 
ENEMIES   OF    ERROR. 

In  the  last  section  I  directed  the  reader's  attention  to  the 
bold  protest  which  the  early  French  Protestant  Church  lifted 
lip  against  the  errors  and  corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
Were  it  necessary,  I  might  appeal  to  additional  evidence,  in 
proof  ot  the  wisdom  as  well  as  the  duty  of  this  course.  I  might 
refer  to  the  success  which  attended  the  public  discussions  of 
one  of  the  most  eminent  controversialists  on  the  Protestant 
side — De  Moulin,  and  that  so  early  as  1602.  It  is  related  of 
him  that  he  held  a  discussion  for  a  fortnight,  that  there  were 
scribes  on  both  sides  present,  and  multitudes  of  hearers,  and 
that  it  resulted  "  in  the  great  satisfaction  of  many  faithful 
souls,  and  the  instruction  of  many  ignorant  Papists,  who 
since  gave  glory  to  God  by  an  open  profession  of  the  truth." 
The  same  author  remarks  that,  by  his  instrumentality,  in  the 
way  of  public  discussion,  "  God  was  glorified,  his  truth  con- 
firmed, and  the  Church  edified  and  increased  with  many  con- 
verts." From  this  and  similar  cases  one  may  see  how  un- 
warranted are  those  general  charges  which  are  frequently 
brought  against  the  agitation  of  the  Romish  controversy,  as, 
at  best,  useless,  if  not  fitted  to  confirm  the  Romanist  in  his 
errors.  But  we  have  not  time  to  pursue  such  inquiries,  nor 
is  it  necessary.  Let  me  only  quote  what  the  author  of  the 
Status  Ecdesise  GaUicanae  says  of  De  Moulin.  "  A  Jesuit 
came  to  the  Doctor's  study  to  dispute  with  him.  M.  de 
Monginot,  a  famous  physician,  was  present  at  the  conference, 
whereby  he  was  converted,  and  set  forth  an  excellent  book 
of  the  reasons  why  he  abjured  Popery.  He,  viz.  De  Mou- 
lin, had  many  encounters  ;  and  to  relate  all  his  conferences 
might  fill  a  great  volume.  Scarcely  was  he  a  week  without 
one  while  he  lived  in  Paris,  and  some  of  them  were  very 
long.  He  was  the  object  of  the  public  hatred  of  the  Roman- 
ists. His  name  was  the  general  theme  of  libels  cried  about 
the  streets,  of  railing  sermons  in  the  pulpits,  and  of  the 
curses  of  ignorant  zealots;"  and  yet  we  have  seen  he  was 
honoured  of  God  to  be  very  useful  in  the  trying  and  difficult 
course  which  he  followed.  Various  and  similar  cases  might 
be  quoted. 

But  it  was  not  only  against  the  errors  and  corruptions  of 
the  Church  of  Rome  that  the  early  Church  of  France  pro- 


OF  FRANCE.  191 

tested.  She  lifted  up  the  same  testimony  against  error  wher- 
ever it  appeared,  though  within  her  own  borders,  and  coun- 
tenanced by  names  which  Protestants  could  not  fail  to  res- 
pect:  thus  she  proved  her  faithfuhiess.  So  early  as  1603 
she  guarded  her  people  against  the  error  of  those  who  denied 
the  imputation  of  the  active  and  passive  obedience  of  Christ 
in  order  to  the  justification  of  sinners,  and  decreed  that  the 
minister  who  taught  such  doctrine  should  be  deposed.  These 
"  new-fangled  opinions"  being  warmly  advocated  by  Pisca- 
tor,  a  foreign  divine,  letters  were  appointed  to  be  written  to 
the  Universities  of  England,  Scotland,  Leyden,  Geneva, 
Heidelberg,  Basil,  and  Herborne,  requesting  them  to  join  in 
the  censure;  and  should  Piscator  continue  in  his  error,  two 
members  of  the  French  Synod  are  directed  to  write  an  an- 
swer to  his  book.  At  a  later  day,  in  1620,  the  Protestant 
Church  of  France  adopted  the  judgments  and  canons  of  the 
celebrated  Synod  of  Dort,  against  the  many  errors  of  Armin- 
ianism.  Indeed,  she  incorporated  them  into  her  own  Con- 
fession of  Faith ;  the  mode  in  which  she  did  so  is  interest- 
ing. "This  Assembly,"  says  the  Synod  of  Alez,  after 
invocation  of  the  name  of  God,  "  decreed  that  the  articles  of 
the  National  Council,  held  at  Dort,  should  be  read  in  full 
Synod;  which  being  done  accordingly,  and  every  article 
pondered  most  attentively,  they  were  all  received  and  ap- 
proved by  a  common  unanimous  consent,  as  agreeing  with 
the  Word  of  God  and  the  Confession  of  Faith  in  these  our 
churches — that  they  were  framed  with  singular  prudence  and 
purity — that  they  ^vere  very  meet  and  proper  to  detect  the 
Arminian  errors,  and  to  confound  them;  for  which  reason,  all 
the  pastors  and  elders  deputed  to  this  Assembly  have  sworn 
and  protested,  jointly  and  severally,  that  they  consent  unto 
this  doctrine,  and  that  they  will  defend  it  to  the  utmost  of 
their  power,  even  to  their  last  breath."  Part  of  the  solemn 
adjuration  runs  in  these  words,  which  it  may  not  be  unsuit- 
able to  record,  at  a  period  like  the  present,  when  so  many 
are  afraid  to  avow  the  higher  doctrines  of  theology:  "  I  de- 
clare also  and  protest  that  I  reject  and  condemn  the  doctrine 
of  the  Arminians,  because  it  makes  God's  decree  of  election 
to  depend  upon  the  mutable  will  of  man,  and  doth  extenuate 
and  make  null  and  void  the  grace  of  God.  It  exalteth  man 
and  the  powers  of  free  will  to  his  destruction.  It  reduceth 
into  the  Church  of  God  old  ejected  Pelagianism,  and  is  a 
mask  and  vizard  for  Popery  to  creep  in  among  us  under  that 
disguise,  and  subvertelh  all  assurance  of  everlasting  life  and 


1  92  PROTESTANT  CIIUECH 

happiness."  But  while  the  dangerous  errors  of  Arminianism 
are  boUUy  condemned,  and  the  great  doctrines  of  election 
and  predestination,  of  free  grace  and  the  assurance  of  salva- 
tion, as  fearlessly  avowed,  the  Protestant  Church  is  not  in- 
sensible to  the  injudicious  manner  in  which  good  men  may 
treat  the  Divine  decrees;  and  so  she  subjoins  some  admira- 
ble counsels,  not  nnlike  those  which  the  Church  of  Scotland 
addresses  to  her  ministers  for  the  treatment  of  the  same  sub- 
ject. "  Moreover,  this  Assembly  conjureth,  by  the  bowels 
of  Divine  mercy,  and  by  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  cove- 
nant, all  ministers,  pastors  of  churches,  to  whom  the  care  of 
precious  souls  is  committed,  that  they  would  walk  together 
evenly  and  harmoniously  in  one  and  the  same  way;  that 
they  abstain  from  all  idle,  unprofitable,  and  curious  questions; 
that  they  do  not  pry  into  the  sacred  acts  of  God's  hidden 
and  unrevealed  counsels  and  decrees,  above  or  beyond  what 
is  recorded  in  his  written  Word,  the  Holy  Scriptures  of 
truth;  but  rather  that  they  would  humbly  own  and  acknow- 
ledge their  ignorance  of  those  profound  and  unfathomable 
mysteries,  than  intrude  themselves  into  things  unlawful;  and 
that  they  would  so  order  their  discourses  and  sermons  con- 
cerning predestination,  that  it  may  promote  repentance  and 
amendment  of  life,  console  wounded  consciences,  and  ex- 
cite the  practice  of  godliness;  that,  by  this  means,  all  occa- 
sions of  disputes  and  controversies  may  be  avoided,  and  we 
may  abide  united  in  one  and  the  same  faith  with  our  brethren 
of  the  Netherlands,  and  other  Churches  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
without  the  kingdom,  as  maintaining  together  with  them,  and 
contending  for  one  and  the  same  faith,  assailed  by  the  same 
common  enemy,  and  called  to  one  and  the  same  hope, 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ — to  whom,  with  the  Father 
and  Holy  Ghost,  be  honour  and  glory,  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen." 

Three  years  after  the  Church  of  France  had  thus  adopted 
and  homologated  the  doctrines  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  she 
published  a  series  of  canons  and  decrees  on  "  Predestination, 
Election,  and  Reprobation,"  consisting  of  a  full  and  able 
statement  of  the  truth  upon  these  points,  and  a  not  less  suc- 
cessful exposure  of  the  corresponding  errors.  The  document 
extends  to  twenty-six  pages  folio;  and,  without  approving  of 
every  expression,  we  may  safely  say  it  is  one  of  the  finest 
expositions  of  the  higher  doctrines  of  theology  which  we 
have  met  with.  We  need  scarcely  add,  that  it  remarkably 
harmonizes  with  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Church  of 


OP    FRANCE.  193 

Scotland;  and  that,  as  in  it,  so  here,  the  sublimity  of  the 
sentiment  bestows  a  wonderful  elevation  upon  the  style. 
In  the  year  1637,  two  ministers  were  called  by  the  Synod 
of  Alanson  to  explain  the  opinions  which  they  held  and 
taught  upon  the  universality  of  the  efficacy  of  Christ's  death. 
They  had  spoken  of  the  Saviour  dying  equally  for  all. 
This  was  inconsistent  with  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  parti- 
cular redemption,  and  had  proved  an  occasion  of  stumbling 
to  many.  On  their  stating  their  faith  to  be,  that  Christ 
died  for  all  sufficiently,  but  only  for  the  elect  effectually ^ 
and  that  they  were  prepared  to  sign  the  whole  doctrine  of 
the  French  Church  "  with  their  best  blood,"  they  were 
restored  to  the  good  opinion  of  their  brethren.  All  this 
shows  how  tenaciously  the  early  Protestants  of  France  held 
by  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Revelation,  and  how  jealously 
they  dreaded  every  approach  to  Arminian  and  human  sys- 
tems of  salvation.  Entertaining  such  views,  no  wonder  that 
they  were  the  declared  and  uncompromising  enemies  of 
the  Romish  Church.  That  Church,  with  exceptions  too 
inconsiderable  to  be  named,  is  built  upon  human  merits  and 
doings.  She  is,  throughout,  Arminian,  and  must  ever  pro- 
voke the  opposition  and  the  warfare  of  the  consistent  advo- 
cates of  salvation  by  free  grace ;  though  even  within  her  pale, 
there  has  generally  been  a  party  who  hold  the  doctrine  of 
free  salvation. 

Too  many  are  ready  to  imagine  that  such  points  are  ques- 
tions of  idle  theological  controversy,  which  do  not  affect  the 
character  of  a  Church,  or  serve  only  to  lower  and  to  weaken 
it.  But  the  character  of  the  French  Protestant  Church, 
when  thus  maintaining  what  is  called  decided  Calvinism, 
was  any  thing  but  trifling  or  weak:  it  was  eminendy  noble 
and  independent.  Indeed,  just  views  of  the  Church,  as  the 
peculiar  people,  the  elect  and  redeemed  family  of  God,  have 
a  tendency  to  raise  the  mind  and  impart  a  greatness  to  the 
character,  to  which  all  mere  human  systems  of  religion  are 
strangers  ;  and  hence  the  spirit  and  resolution  wliich  humble 
Christians  have  often  discovered  in  trying  circumstances. 
AVhen,  in  1612,  Louis,  by  bad  advice,  published  "  a  procla- 
mation of  pardon,"  treating  the  Protestants  as  if  they  had 
been  guilty  of  a  crime  in  holding  their  usual  provincial 
meetings,  and  as  needing  forgiveness,  they  boldly  met,  in 
the  course  of  a  month,  and  issued,  as  a  Synod,  a  declaration, 
in  the  course  of  which  they  say  that  they  are  ready,  all  of 
them,  jointly  and  singly,  to  be  responsible  for  their  actions, 

13 


194  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

and  to  publish  them  to  the  whole  world,  openly  and  at  noon- 
day; counting  all  manner  of  torments  far  more  easy  to  be 
borne,  than  that  they  and  their  posterity  should  be  stigma- 
tized as  if  they  were  not  loyal  and  faithful  subjects.  Hence, 
they  declare  that  they  will  not,  in  any  way,  make  use  of 
these  letters  of  pardon,  and  that  they  M'ill  disavow  any  per- 
sons who  do  so;  and  that  they  say  these  things  not  in  vanity 
and  vain-glory,  but  to  give  testimony  to  the  truth,  and  to 
show  that  they  are  ready  to  venture  their  honour,  estates, 
and  lives,  in  performance  of  the  duties  and  service  which 
they  owe  to  their  sovereign.  This  was  a  noble  spirit  for  a 
poor  suffering  Church  to  exhibit ;  and  parallel  was  the  spirit 
of  her  members.  In  allusion  to  trouble  and  difficulty  from 
the  civil  authority,  the  Dukes  Rohan  and  SuUy,  and  the  Lord 
de  Plessis  Mornay,  in  1614,  wrote  letters  to  the  Synod  of 
Tonniers,  "  all  tending  to  assure  the  churches  of  this  king- 
dom of  their  holy  resolution  immoveably  to  persevere  in  our 
faith  and  discipline,  and  to  adventure  their  estates,  their  lives, 
and  fortunes,  for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ; 
expressing  also  their  great  desire  that  all  the  members  of  our 
churches  might  be  preserved  in  a  sweet  and  perfect  concord." 
A  fine  anecdote  is  related  of  the  courage  and  independence 
of  Welsh,  the  son-in-law  of  John  Knox,  who,  we  have  al- 
ready noticed,  was,  for  a  number  of  years,  a  minister  of  the 
French  Church.  When  the  king  was  using  strong  measures 
against  his  Protestant  subjects,  he  and  the  court  came  to  the 
small  town  where  Welsh  preached.  In  the  circumstances, 
his  friends  dissuaded  him,  but  in  vain,  from  appearing  in  the 
pulpit.  During  the  time  of  sermon  an  officer  was  sent  from 
the  king  commanding  his  immediate  presence;  he,  however, 
was  overawed  by  the  authority  with  which  the  preacher  ad- 
diessed  him  before  the  assembled  multitude.  The  historian 
goes  on  to  say — 

"  The  sermon  being  ended,  Mr.  Welsh,  with  much  sub- 
mission, went  to  the  king,  who  was  then  greatly  incensed; 
and,  with  a  threatening  countenance,  asked  who  he  was, 
and  how  he  durst  preach  heresy  so  near  his  person,  and 
with  such  contumacy  carry  himself?  To  which,  with  due 
reverence,  bowing  himself,  he  did  answer:  '  I  am,  (Sir,)  the 
servant  and  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  whose  truth  I  preached 
this  day:  which,  if  your  majesty  rightly  knew,  you  would 
have  judged  it  your  duty  to  have  come  and  heard.  And  for 
my  doctrine,  I  did  this  day  preach  these  three  truths  to  your 
people:  1.  That  man  is  fallen,  and  by  nature  in  a  lost  con- 


OF    FRA3SCE.  195 

dition ;  yea,  by  his  own  power  and  abilities  is  not  able  to 
help  himself  out  of  that  estate.  2.  That  there  is  no  salva- 
tion or  deliverance  from  wrath  by  our  own  merits,  but  by 
Jesus  Christ,  and  his  merit  alone.  3.  I  did  also  preach  this 
day  the  just  liberties  of  the  kingdom  of  France;  that  your 
Majesty  oweth  obedience  to  Christ  only,  who  is  Head  of  the 
Church;  and  that  the  Pope,  as  he  is  an  enemy  to  Christ  and 
his  truth,  so  also  to  the  kings  of  the  earth,  whom  he  keepeth 
under  slavery  to  his  usurped  power.'  Whereat  the  king  for 
a  time  keeping  silence,  with  great  astonishment  turned  to 
some  about  him,  and  said,  'Surely  this  is  a  man  of  God.' 
Yea,  the  king  did  afterwards  commune  with  him,  and  with 
much  respect  dismissed  him.' 

Boldly,  however,  as  the  French  Protestants  declared  the 
truths  of  God,  and  asserted  the  independence  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  they  were  free  from  being  what  their  enemies 
styled  them — disloyal  subjects.  This  has,  in  every  age, 
been  a  common  charge  against  serious  Christians.  Nothing, 
however,  can  be  more  unfounded.  Respect  for  human  au- 
thority is  quite  consistent  with  the  freedom  wherewith  the 
truth  makes  believers  free.  Accordingly,  numerous  as  might 
be  the  charges,  no  real  disloyalty  was  ever  established  against 
the  Protestant  Church.  When  Louis  XIII.  was  approaching 
his  majority,  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  was  appointed  in 
1614,  to  draw  down  the  Divine  blessing  on  his  head.  Consi- 
dering how  much  the  Protestants  had  been  suffering  all  along, 
and  was  suffering  at  that  time  from  the  jealousy  and  oppres- 
sion of  the  civil  power,  such  warm-hearted  loyalty  was  re- 
markable indeed.  It  reminds  us  of  the  loyalty  of  the  suffering 
Covenanters  of  Scodand.  In  addressing  the  king  as  a  Synod 
a  few  years  afterwards,  they  trace  the  feeling  to  its  proper 
source.  While  they  acknowledged  their  obligations  to  Henry 
IV.,  whom  they  denominate  "  Henry  the  Great,  our  late 
King,  and  your  Majesty's  father  of  most  glorious  memory," 
they  add,  "  but  there  is  another  bond  and  obligation  upon  us 
stronger  than  all  these,  even  that  of  our  conscience  and  reli- 
gion, which  from  the  divinely  inspired  Scriptures  are  taught 
and  instructed  to  subject  ourselves  unto  the  higher  powers, 
and  that  to  resist  them  is  to  resist  the  ordinance  of  God." 

I  am  aware  that  the  enemies  of  the  Protestants  charged 
them  with  being  political  and  tumultuous,  nay,  traitorous. 
And  when  men  are  persecuted,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  some 
should  be  driven  to  excess.  But  the  Church,  as  a  Church, 
discountenanced,  in  the  strongest  manner,  every  thing  like 


196  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

an  interference  with  matters  purely  of  State.  With  respect 
to  the  accusation  of  "  holding  intelligence  with  the  Spaniard, 
the  most  implacable  enemy  of  France,"  the  Synod  of  Cas- 
tres,  in  1626,  declares,  that  after  the  most  diligent  and  rigor- 
ous inquiries,  not  one  of  their  pastors  could  be  impeached 
with  that  crime,  and  that  it  could  not  even  be  fastened  upon 
any  one  individual  of  the  Protestant  communion ;  nay,  that 
the  innocence  of  the  Church  was  proclaimed  before  the  whole 
world.  It  would  seem  that  political  meetings  were  not  un- 
frequently  held  in  the  provinces,  and  deputations  sent  from 
them  to  the  Court.  The  Protestant  ministers,  from  their 
intelligence,  and  enjoying  the  confidence  of  the  people,  were 
sometimes  employed  in  these  services.  This  proving  a  se- 
rious hindrance  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  by  secularizing 
their  minds,  and  creating  prejudices  against  their  spiritual  la- 
bours, the  Church  deprecated  and  condemned  such  proceed- 
ings; and  also  guarded  her  ministers  under  the  severest  pe- 
nalty, against  bringing  their  secular  politics  into  the  pulpit. 
In  1617,  we  read  the  following  resolution  of  the  Synod  of 
Vitre:  "All  ministers  are  forbidden  to  vent  in  the  pulpit 
their  private  sentiments  of  State  affairs,  it  being  contrary  to 
the  resolutions  taken  up  in  our  General  Assemblies;  and 
Consistories,  Colloquies,  and  Provincial  Synods,  are  enjoin- 
ed to  have  a  watchful  eye  over  such  pastors  as  do  so,  and  to 
inflict  upon  them  all  the  censures  of  the  Church;  yea,  to 
Suspend  them  from  the  ministry  ;  and  the  same  punishment 
shall  also  be  laid  on  them  who,  in  their  public  sermons,  clash 
one  against  another  upon  these  matters." 

When  we  consider  how  strong  were  the  temptations  of 
the  Protestant  Church,  in  her  oppressed  circumstances,  to 
allow  any  political  proceedings,  on  the  part  of  her  ministers, 
which  promised  relief,  such  resolutions  and  actings  as  these 
must  be  regarded  as  strong  testimonies  to  her  just  views  of 
the  character  of  a  Church  of  Christ,  and  her  higli  spirituali- 
ty of  feeling.  Nor  is  the  testimony  weakened,  when  we 
remember  that,  while  so  strict  against  interference  with  the 
province  of  others,  on  the  part  of  the  ministry  she  rigidly  se- 
cured an  attention  to  the  peculiar  duties  of  their  calling.  The 
residence  of  her  pastors  in  their  parishes,  she  enforced  by  the 
severest  censures;  indeed,  it  Avas  made  quite  indispensable. 

I  might  go  on  to  notice  various  other  proofs  of  the  excel- 
lent character  of  the  French  Ciiurch,  but  it  is  unnecessary. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  she  frequenUy  appointed  days  of  hu- 
miliation, and  fasting,  and  prayer.     The  confessions  of  de- 


OF    FRANCE.  _  197 

clension,  lukewarmness,  ungodliness,  and  even  vice,  which 
she  solemnly  records  against  her  members  on  such  occasions, 
are  no  evidence  that  she  was  not  still  a  truly  Christian  Church 
of  superior  attainments.  The  more  advanced  that  believers 
or  Churches  become  in  the  divine  life,  they  will  see  and 
confess  their  shortcomings  and  offences  the  more.  It  is  not 
to  be  denied,  however,  that  the  Church  of  France  degenerated 
not  a  little  even  during  the  period  of  which  I  have  been 
writing,  when  so  many  excellencies  could  be  pointed  to  in 
her  general  character.  Similar  was  the  experience  of  some 
of  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor.  But  while  she  thus  confess- 
ed sin,  she  was  not  indifferent  to  amendment.  She  exhorted 
to  a  punctual  attention  to  those  parts  of  her  discipline — the 
canon,  for  instance,  providing  for  the  discharge  of  parental 
duty — which  were  fitted  to  reclaim  aiid  to  reform.  I  cannot 
withhold  the  affecting  terms  in  which  a  Fast  for  the  General 
State  of  Europe  was  appointed  in  1637.  They  are  remark- 
ably striking,  and  indicate  the  presence  of  blended  loyalty 
and  piety. 

"'Whereas  for  divers  years  last  past,  war  and  mortality 
have  overspread,  with  a  deluge  of  woes,  the  far  greatest  part 
of  Europe,  and- made  the  unrepenting  nations  sensible,  what 
a  dreadful  thing  it  is  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God, 
justly  incensed  against  those  hard-hearted  sinners,  who  de- 
spise the  riches  of  his  grace,  the  abundance  of  his  goodness 
and  long-suflering — the  National  Synod  of  the  Reformed 
Churches  of  France,  assembled  by  tlie  king's  permission,  in 
the  town  of  Alanson,  beholding,  in  the  continued  plagues 
with  which  all  the  provinces  of  this  kingdom  are  scourged, 
evident  threatenings  of  new  impendent  judgments:  Where- 
fore, that  those  affrightful  and  approaching  storms  may  be 
averted,  and  the  bowels  of  God's  fatherly  campassions  may 
be  moved,  and  that  we  may  obtain  from  his  infinite  mercies 
and  goodness  the  preservation  of  his  Majesty's  sacred  per- 
son, a  blessing  upon  his  armies,  the  return  and  re-establish- 
ment of  peace  and  prosperity  in  the  State,  and  a  quiet  settle- 
ment of  this  poor  afflicted  Church,  tossed  with  tempests, 
and  not  comforted — we  do  exhort  all  the  faithful,  by  a  deep 
humiliation  of  soul,  and  a  sincere  and  serious  conversion  of 
heart,  to  seek  after  the  help,  grace,  and  favour  of  God.  And 
to  this  purpose  the  Synod  decreeth,  that  a  public  fast  shall 
be  kept  and  solemnly  observed  in  all  the  churches  of  this 
kingdom,  on  Thursday  the  19th  day  of  November  next 
coming,  which  shall  be  notified  unto  them  by  reading  of  this 
present  act." 


198 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


We  cannot  better  close  this  section,  than  by  a  picture  m 
the  French  Protestant  Church,  at  the  period  of  which  we 
have  been  writing,  drawn  by  the  ministers  and  professors  of 
Geneva.  At  this  distance  of  time,  and  with  imperfect  ma- 
terials, we  may  be  apt  to  exaggerate  or  undervalue  her  gene- 
ral attainments.  From  the  following  beautiful  extracts,  we 
shall  learn  what  was  the  estimation  in  which  she  Avas  held 
by  contemporaries  of  competent  judgment.  They  strikingly 
show  the  connection  between  pure  doctrine  and  elevated 
character.  The  exhortations  may  not  be  unsuitable  to 
Christians  still.  The  divines  of  Geneva,  among  whom  were 
Prevost,  Diodati  and  B.  Turretine,  bear  testimony  to  the 
pure  evangelical  doctrine  of  the  French  Church,  and  her  zeal 
against  error  in  such  passages  as  these,  forming  part  of  two 
long  and  interesting  letters  which  they  addressed  to  the  Na- 
tional Synod: — "AH  the  Reformed  Churches,  as  far  as  ever 
we  could  learn,  were  fdled  with  joy  at  those  solid  declara- 
tions made  in  your  National  Synod  against  revived  Pelagian- 
ism,  and  at  that  singular  care  taken  by  those  venerable  and 
holy  councils  to  exclude  it  out  of  your  churches."  Again, 
alluding  to  the  errors  connected  with  universal  redemption, 
they  say: — "  This  accident  hath  been  the  worst  and  most 
ill-boding  sign  and  token  that  could  befall  you ;  for  you  had, 
for  many  years  together,  retained  constantly  and  invariably 
that  most  holy  faith,  taught  and  established  in  your  churches, 
in  its  purity  and  simplicity — the  wicked  one  not  being  able, 
during  all  that  time,  to  mingle  any  of  his  leaven,  nor  to  sow 
any  of  his  tares  among  you;  you  have  therein  imitated  the 
most  famous  Gallican  Church  of  the  best  and  purest  times 
of  antiquity,  which  is  as  free  of  heresies  as  your  land  is  of 
monsters." 

Referring  to  the  high  Christian  cliaracter  of  the  Protestant 
Church  of  France,  and  the  remarkable  interpositions  of  God 
in  its  behalf,  we  have  the  following  extract: — 

"  His  gracious  providence  shines  forth  with  a  most  admi- 
rable lustre  in  the  defence  of  your  churches,  and  particularly 
in  the  free  enjoyment  of  your  religious  assemblies;  so  that 
at  the  many  strange  accidents  which  have  befallen  you  for 
divers  years  together,  and  the  tempests  with  which  the  king- 
dom of  France  hath  been  assaulted  and  battered,  the  sore  and 
grievous  aillictions  of  many  of  our  brethren,  having  astonish- 
ed our  souls  and  overwhelmed  our  hearts  with  sorrows,  had 
made  us  almost  despair  of  ever  seeing  the  comfortable  returns 
of  peace  unto  your  realm,  and  of  repose  and  settlement  for 


OP    FRANCE.  199 

your  poor  afflicted  churches,  and  the  exercise  of  your  most 
excellent  discipline,  than  which  a  better  was  never  practised 
in  the  Christian  world.  And  now  in  this  calm  the  divine 
Wisdom  gathers  his  children,  as  the  hen  doth  her  chickens, 
under  her  wings,  and  reneweth  the  face  of  his  Church  in 
your  congregations,  as  the  eagle  doth  his  youth.  We  be 
gready  comforted,  most  honoured  lords  and  brethren,  at  the 
glad  tidings  of  those  excellent  fruits  which  the  Lord's  visita- 
tion hath  produced  in  healing  of  your  churches,  once  again 
bringing  into  use  and  exercise  those  graces  and  virtues  so 
necessary  for  the  faithful,  and  so  difficult  to  be  exerted  and 
practised  in  times  of  prosperity — such  as  the  love  of  God's 
Word,  contempt  of  the  world,  and  kindling  again  a  fire  of 
holy  zeal,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  upon  the  altar  of  the  sacred 
ministry,  to  the  conviction  of  sins  and  errors,  and  the  refor- 
mation of  life  and  of  former  miscarriages,  and  the  strength- 
ening of  the  infirm  and  weaker  Christians." 

We  might  introduce  many  other  passages  of  a  similar 
import.     Let  the  following  fine  address  to  ministers  suffice. 
The  Church  which  could  write  such  a  letter,  and  the  Church 
to  which  such  a  letter  could,  with  any  propriety,  be  written, 
must  have  been  eminent  at  once  for  sound  principle  and 
enlightened  piety.     Surely  the  whole  facts  brought  together 
in  these  chapters  go  far  to  show  the  intimate  connection  be- 
tween high  doctrine  and  high  character: — "And  inasmuch 
as  by  these  overturnings  of  the  world,  'tis  visible  that  its  last 
end  cannot  be  far  off,  and  that  our  long-looked  and  long- 
hoped-for  redemption,  in  the  coming  of  the  eternal  kingdom 
of  the  Son  of  God,  draweth  nigh;  for  God's  sake,  most  dear 
sirs  and  honoured  brethren,  be  not  weary  of  fighting  the  good 
fight,  with  the  weapons  of  righteousness,  on  the  right  hand 
and  on  the  left,  against  the  baits  and  charms  of  this  present 
world,  and  against  that  hatred  and  fury  you  shall  meet  withal 
for  opposing  the  torrents  of  its  general  and  reigning  corrup- 
tions.     Revive,  therefore,  the  zeal  of  Elijah;  preach  the 
words  of  life  and  wisdom;  get  the  Spirit  of  might,  of  judg- 
ment, and  of  burning;  wield  the  two-edged  sword  of  the 
Spirit  of  the  Word  of  God,  that  it  may  cut  on  this  side  and 
on  that ;  that  it  may  hew  down  them  who  do  actually  deceive 
and  poison  souls  with  their  erroneous  and  seducing  doctrines ; 
that  so  the  true  faith  and  religion  which  we  have  received 
from  our  godly  and  blessed  fathers,  may  be  handed  down 
unto  our  children;  and  we,  recalling  into  our  personal  prac- 
tice and  imitation,  that  holiness  of  their  lives  by  which  they 


200  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

did  so  nobly  justify  their  profession,  and  exalted  to  the  high- 
est pitch  of  evidence  the  power  of  the  Gospel,  and  made  it 
known  unto  the  world,  to  its  condemnation,  this  very  holi- 
ness of  our  heavenly  Father  may  appear  more  conspicuous 
in  the  holiness  of  our  lives,  who  are  his  own  sanctified  chil- 
dren." 

With  regard  to  the  Church  of  Scotland,  in  the  aspect  of 
character  under  which  we  have  been  contemplating  the 
Church  of  France,  happily  she  had  no  doctrinal  errors  of 
which  to  complain  in  her  communion.  AVhile  Arminianism, 
before  and  throughout  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  made  serious 
progress  in  England,  it  was  unknown  in  Scotland,  except, 
perhaps,  among  the  small  prelatical  party.  The  divine  bles- 
sing on  the  standards  of  the  Church,  and  on  the  struggles 
which  she  was  called  to  maintain,  seems  to  have  kept  her 
sound  and  pure.  It  is  not  till  the  days  of  Cromwell  that  we 
meet  with  any  false  doctrine  apart  from  old  Popery,  of  which 
there  was  now  very  little.  The  Protector's  army  brought 
Quakers,  and  Anabaptists,  and  sectaries  in  its  ranks,  many 
of  whom  seemed  to  have  been  as  erroneous  in  their  senti- 
ments as  they  were  extravagant  in  their  proceedings.  In 
1649,  the  General  Assembly  prohibit  the  sale  or  use  in 
schools  or  families,  of  a  little  catechism  entitled  the  ABC, 
with  a  catechism  which  contains  very  gross  errors,  in  regard 
to  universal  redemption — the  number  of  the  sacraments. 
The  Assembly's  catechism  is,  at  the  same  time,  recommen- 
ded for  schools.  Eight  years  after,  two  Anabaptists  having 
been  called  before  the  Presbytery  of  Cupar,  maintained  that 
Christ  died  for  all  intentionally — that  the  soul  sleeps  with 
the  body  till  the  resurrection — that  saints  may  fall  away  from 
saving  grace — that  the  decree  of  election  is  not  absolute,  and 
yet  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  irresistible  in  his  operation. 
Nothing  could  be  more  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  and  she,  of  course,  used  her  best  exertions 
against  the  errors  in  question.  The  people,  however,  were 
too  deeply  and  generally  well-grounded  in  the  truth,  to  run 
any  serious  risk  of  being  misled  by  them. 

I  referred  in  this  section  to  the  high  and  independent 
character  of  the  Church  of  France,  springing  out  of  the  high 
doctrine  which  she  held.  I  need  not  say  how  much  the 
same  spirit  characterized  the  Church  of  Scodand.  Manli- 
ness and  boldness  mark  her  whole  history,  particularly 
during  the  period  we  are  surveying.     I  shall  not  refer  to  her 


OF    FRANCE.  201 

many  and  well  known  struggles,  terminating  in  the  dire  ne- 
cessity of  taking  up  arms  in  self-defence;  but  shall  refer  to 
two  cases  which  will  bring  out  the  doctrine  of  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  Church  in  spiritual  things — a  doctrine  for  which 
she  seems  destined  in  the  providence  of  God  to  be  called  to 
contend  anew. 

Row,  the  author  of  the  Life  of  Blair,  relates,  that  "  in  July 
1653,  those  of  the  ministers  who  were  for  the  public  resolu- 
tions, met  in  Assembly  at  Edinburgh,  but  before  they  were 
constituted  they  were  commanded  to  disperse  by  a  parly  of 
English  (Cromwell's)  soldiers.  Mr.  David  Dickson,  the 
Moderator  of  the  former  Assembly,  who  opened  this,  an- 
swered that  they  had  power  from  Jesus  Christ  to  convene 
for  the  affairs  of  his  house  ;  but  the  officers  disregarding  such 
topics,  the  Assembly  were  commanded,  in  the  name  of  the 
Parliament  of  England,  to  dissolve  presently.  Against  this 
usurpation,  Mr.  Dickson  protested,  in  the  Assembly's  name, 
1st,  Because  they  had  power  and  authority  from  Jesus  Christ 
to  convene  in  his  courts;  2d,  Because  their  meeting  was 
warranted  by  the  unrepealed  laws  of  the  land;  and  3d,  Be- 
cause the  English  were,  by  the  first  article  of  the  Solemn 
League,  bound  with  them  to  defend  the  doctrine,  discipline, 
and  government  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland.  But  he  had 
scarcely  done  speaking,  when  they  were  conveyed  by  a  party 
to  Bruntsfield  Links.  Next  day,  a  immber  of  the  protestors 
against  the  public  resolutions  having  likewise  convened,  the 
English  got  notice  of  their  meeting,  and  served  them  with 
the  same  sauce  they  had  done  their  brethren ;  against  which 
those  ministers  did  also  protest,  and  sent  a  copy  of  their 
protestation  to  Lilburn,  commander-in-chief  of  the  English 
forces  in  Scotland."  A  similar  case  occurred  in  the  Presby- 
tery of  Cupar  two  years  after.  "  While  the  Presbytery, 
being  met  at  the  ordinary  time  and  in  the  ordinary  place, 
was  consulting  about  revising  the  acts  of  the  last  half  year, 
that  the  register  might  be  in  readiness  against  the  Provincial 
Assembly,  Lieutenant  Crossraan  (an  Englishman)  told  us 
that  the  meeting  of  the  Provincial  was  forbidden,  and  forth- 
with went  away,  and  within  an  hour  after  came  back  again 
and  commanded  the  Presbyterial  meeting  to  rise  and  dis- 
perse, till  further  orders — which  the  brethren  resolved  to 
obey.  But  withal,  Mr.  John  Macneili,  protested  against  the 
encroachment  made  upon  the  liberties  of  our  kirk  judicato- 
ries, which  hold  of  Jesus  Christ  himself,  and  are  not  subor- 
dinate to  any  civil  or  military  power  whatsoever.     And  that 


202  PROTESTANT    CHURCH  ' 

notwithstanding,  it  may  be  free  to  iis  to  meet  in  our  respective 
judicatories,  in  a  peaceable  manner,  about  the  affairs  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  within  the  bounds  of  our  charge,  as  ne- 
cessity requires,  when  and  where  the  Lord,  in  his  good  pro- 
vidence, should  give  us  opportunity  and  a  call.  And  this  we 
do,  not  out  of  humourness  or  turbulence  of  spirit,  but  that  we 
may  approve  ourselves  to  God  in  our  station,  by  asserting  of, 
and  bearing  testimony  unto,  the  government,  liberties,  and 
privileges  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  judicatories  thereof 
(according  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  bonds  of  our  sacred 
and  solemn  covenant,)  which  to  us  are  so  precious  that  we 
dare  not  be  consenting  unto,  nor  silent  at  any  thing  which 
directly,  or  by  consequence,  may  be  prejudicial  unto  them. 

"  Mr.  James  Wedderburn. 
"  May  1655."  "  William  Row  adheres:' 

In  concluding  this  section,  I  may  call  the  reader's  atten- 
tion to  a  few  points  of  a  miscellaneous  character,  but  at  the 
same  time  so  important  as  to  merit  notice.  The  Church 
continued  to  require  all  that  undivided  exertion  from  her 
ministers  with  which  she  started.  The  Synod  of  Fife,  so 
early  as  1612,  "directs  an  act  against  plurality  of  kirks  being 
held  by  one  minister,  as  a  great  hindrance  to  the  Gospel." 
Poor  as  the  provision  was,  the  Church,  as  much  as  possible, 
confined  a  pastor's  care  to  a  single  flock.  At  a  later  day 
(1657,)  the  Laird  of  Rankeillor  brought  a  minister  before  the 
Presbytery  of  Cupar,  even  though  his  stipend  had  been  ill 
paid,  because  he  had  taken  land  which  occupied  his  atten- 
tion. It  is  said  the  Laird  "wishes  his  minister  to  be  more 
painful  in  visiting  and  catechising,  and  is  willing  to  take  the 
land  off  his  hand,  though  it  should  be  to  his  own  disadvan- 
tage."    The  Presbytery  recommend  this  course. 

While  ministers  were  expected  and  required  to  be  busy 
in  every  department  of  professional  duly,  they  seem  to  have 
devoted  much  of  their  care  to  the  instruction  and  preparation 
of  the  people  for  the  holy  Communion.  In  the  Session  Re- 
cords of  Dunfermline  there  are  some  strong  rules  on  this 
head — too  strong  perhaps  for  the  present  slate  of  society — 
but  indicating  aboundant  zeal  in  the  franiers,  and,  it  may  be, 
well  adapted  to  the  people  whom  they  were  meant  to  guide. 
"27th  March  1656:  the  said  ministers  and  elders  going 
about  the  examination  of  the  people  for  the  Communion, 
resolved — 

"  1.  That  those  persons  who  neglect  the  diets  of  examina- 


OF   FRANCE.  203 

tion,  whether  masters  or  others,  if  twice  absent,  to  be  ad- 
monished by  the  minister  and  elders;  and  if  the  third  time, 
to  be  cited  to  the  Session,  or  suspended  from  the  Commu- 
nion, without  respect  of  persons,  and  these  to  be  marked  by 
the  ministers  and  elders. 

"  2.  That  the  minister,  with  the  elders,  shall  try  the  know- 
ledge of  every  one  that  comes,  according  to  the  Act  of  As- 
sembly 1648,  sess.  38. 

"3.  x4fter  persons  are  observed  to  be  ignorant,  or  absentees 
from  catechising,  the  elders  on  their  several  quarters  may 
deal  with  them,  by  visiting  their  families,  and  exhorting  their 
masters  and  themselves  yet  to  learn. 

"4.  For  their  measures  of  knowledge,  that  the  ministers 
shall  agree  upon  some  common  questions  to  be  proposed  to 
every  one  whose  knowledge  they  doubt,  and  that  they  insist 
most  upon  those  questions  which  are  preparatives  for  the 
Sacrament. 

"5.  Concerning  scandalous  persons,  such  as  ordinary  tip- 
plers, and  swearers,  and  scolders,  and  who  live  at  variance 
with  their  neighbours — ordinary  absentees  from  catechising, 
ordinary  neglecters  of  the  worship  of  God  in  their  families, 
&c. — that  some  way  be  taken  for  trying  of  them,  and  keep- 
ing them  back  from  the  Communion  if  they  continue  in  it, 
comformly  to  the  directions  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"6.  That,  at  the  least,  there  be  two  elders  with  the  minis- 
ter at  the  examination. 

"  7.  That  if  any  elder  or  deacon  be  appointed  to  wait  on 
the  absentees,  and  do  not  wait  on,  either  himself  or  some 
other  with  whom  he  may  agree,  he  shall  be  suspended  from 
his  place  for  a  time,  except  he  have  a  very  reasonable  ex- 
cuse." The  reconciling  of  quarrels  previously  to  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  Lord's  Supper,  seems  to  have  been  a  com- 
mon, as  it  was  a  most  appropriate,  part  of  sessional  duty. 

Nor  must  I  omit  to  notice  the  Church's  unwearied  la- 
bours after  the  due  observance  of  the  Sabbath.  The  Church 
of  Rome  may  make  a  holiday  of  the  Lord's  Day,  and  Charles, 
a  professed  Protestant  monarch,  may  command  the  reading 
of  a  Book  pf  sporls  on  its  sacred  hours,  to  correct  the  exces- 
sive religious  spirit  of  his  people,  and  prepare  them  for  a 
return  to  Popery ;  but  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland 
holds  by  the  Sabbath  as  a  sheet-anchor  of  Christianity,  and 
carefully  guards  and  honours  it.  If  there  be  one  feature  in 
her  history  more  marked  than  another,  it  is  her  love  for  the 
Sabbath;  and  how  much  she  is  under  God,  indebted  to  this 


204  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

for  her  superior  religious  knowledge,  and  character,  and  pri- 
vileges, civil  and  sacred,  in  short,  civihzation,  no  one  can 
estimate.  The  county  of  Fife  being  noted  for  its  fishing  and 
salt-making,  and  both  employments  tempting  men  to  trench 
upon  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath,  we  find  frequent  reference  in 
its  ecclesiastical  records,  particularly  in  the  Presbyterian 
periods,  to  the  efforts  of  the  Clmrch  courts  for  the  protection 
of  the  Sabbath.  The  people  are  forbidden  to  set  their  nets 
even  during  the  "herring  drove"  on  the  Lord's  Day,  or  to 
loose  ships  and  boats  which  are  in  safe  harbours.  The  salt- 
makers,  also,  are  prohibited  from  working  on  any  part  of  the 
Sabbaih.  A  compromise  seems  to  have  been  proposed  by 
proprietors  at  Kirkaldy.  The  Synod  is  asked  to  allow  them 
lo  work  till  six  o'clock  on  Sabbath  morning,  and  begin  again 
at  six  in  the  evening;  but  the  Church  declines  all  com- 
promise, and  contends  that  there  shall  be  no  work  from 
twelve  on  Saturday  night  till  twelve  on  Sabbath  night. 

Other  forms  of  Sabbath  desecration  were  not  allowed  to 
pass  without  challenge  or  correction.  Sabbath  funerals  were 
forbidden.  "  Whereas,"  say  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews, 
"  there  is  a  superstitious  practice  of  making  graves  upon  the 
Lord's  Day,  which  may  be  conveniently  avoided,  the  Pres- 
b3'^tery  appoint  that  no  graves  be  made  upon  the  Lord's  Day, 
but  in  case  of  urgent  necessity  allowed  by  the  minister  and 
session."  A  remarkable  case  occurs  in  the  Presbytery  Re- 
cords of  Cupar,  which  shows  how  severely  the  honour  of 
the  Sabbath  was  vindicated  in  1647.  The  offender  appears 
to  have  shot  some  animal,  probably  a  bird,  upon  the  Lord's 
Day.  This  was  regarded  as  a  serious  scandal;  and  the  fol- 
lowing is  the  account  of  the  punishment: — "  David  Blyth, 
in  the  parish  of  Abdie,  for  shedding 'blood  on  the  Sabbath- 
day,  is  appointed  to  stand  at  the  kirk  door  next  Sabbaih, 
bareheaded  and  barefooted,  with  the  gun  in  his  hand  where- 
with the  blood  was  shed,  until  the  last  bell;  thereafter  to  sit 
before  the  pulpit  in  the  time  of  sermon;  and  after  sermon,  to 
acknowledge  and  confess  his  sin  upon  his  knees,  and  then 
to  be  received."  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  this  kind  or 
degree  of  punishment,  no  enlightened  Christian  can  doubt 
that  the  Sabbaih  should  be  protected  by  legislative  enactment 
and  penalty;  and  that  dark  will  be  the  liour  for  Britain,  when 
even  its  present  imperfect  Sabbath  defences  shall  be  with- 
drawn. 


OF    FRANCE.  205 

CHAPTER  IV. 

FROM  1660  TO  1685. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  a  very  interesting  and  affecting 
period  in  the  history  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France — 
the  period  which  preceded  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of 
Nantes,  in  1685.  We  have  marked  the  enactment  of  this 
edict  under  Henry  IV.,  and  have  contemplated  the  Christian 
character  of  the  Church,  as  manifested  by  a  variety  of  indi- 
cations during  the  ninety  years  in  which  it  was  in  force.  We 
have  now  to  consider  its  abrogation.  Even  had  it  been  per- 
fecdy  observed  all  along,  the  civil  and  religions  liberty  which 
it  secured  to  the  Protestants  would  have  been  very  inade- 
quate. The  joy  with  which  its  institution  was  hailed  only 
strikingly  proves  how  wretched  and  oppressed  had  been  their 
previous  condition ;  but  its  regulations  were  not  fairly  or 
honourably  observed.  At  first,  under  Henry,  and  for  a  con- 
siderable period  under  Louis  XIII.,  its  provisions  were  pretty 
well  regarded,  and  the  Protestants  were  gladdened  and  in- 
creased in  numbers ;  but  during  the  whole  course  of  it,  and 
particularly  towards  the  close,  the  infractions  were  many  and 
■grievous — the  protection  which  it  afforded  only  nominal. 

A  Church  so  spiritual  and  faithful — as  we  have  seen,  from 
indubitable  evidence,  the  Church  of  France  was,  to  a  great 
extent,  at  the  period  of  which  we  speak — could  not  be  en- 
dured by  the  Popish  multitude,  whether  lay  or  clerical,  and 
so  there  was  incessant  hostility  every  now  and  then  break- 
ing out  into  direct  persecution.  Even  where  the  king  and 
civil  power  were  disposed  to  befriend  the  Protestants,  the 
ecclesiastical  party  were  too  strong  for  them ;  and  either  by 
force  or  fraud,  as  best  suited  the  purpose,  stirred  them  up  in- 
to opposition.  Hence,  in  various  parts  of  France,  especially 
the  more  remote,  many  of  the  provisions  of  the  edict  of 
Nantes  were  never  complied  with,  and  in  others  these  provi- 
sions were  ever  and  anon  openly  violated.  A  Popish  noble- 
man or  landlord  kept  a  whole  parish  in  misery. 

The  truth  is,  the  edict  was  never  a  cordial  or  hearty  mea- 
sure. It  was  extorted  by  circumstances,  and  being  disliked 
by  the  most  powerful  party  in  the  country,  it  could  not  be 
expected  to  be  well  observed.  Solemn  promises  may  have 
been  made,  but  the  history  of  the  edict  conclusively  shows 


206  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

that  the  Romish  doclrine — no  faith  is  to  be  kept  with  here- 
tics— was  no  obsolete  imagination,  but  a  stern  reality.  The 
least  resistance,  on  the  part  of  the  Protestants,  to  the  most 
arbitrary  proceedings,  however  excusable  in  their  trying  cir- 
cumstances, was  always  and  immediately  laid  hold  of  as  a 
reason  for  greater  encroachments  and  severity.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  these  were  often  provoked,  for  the  very  pur- 
pose of  affording  an  occasion,  from  the  irritation  w^hich 
might  be  created,  still  further  to  abridge  the  narrow  freedom. 
Remembering  these  things,  we  need  not  wonder  to  learn 
that,  so  early  as  1603,  there  were  not  less  than  fifty-four  des- 
titute Protestant  churches — that,  four  years  later,  there  w^ere 
vexatious  lawsuits  about  churches,  one  of  which  entailed  up- 
on the  poor  Protestants  a  debt  of  not  less  than  from  seven  to 
eight  thousand  livres — and  that,  ten  years  subsequently, 
there  were  complaints  of  persecution  from  a  variety  of  dis- 
tricts embracing  many  churches — persecution  which  had 
lasted  for  years,  and  involved  the  sufferers  in  most  serious 
pecuniary  burdens.  The  Protestant  Chuich  may,  as  she  ad- 
vanced in  years,  have  lost  somewhat  of  the  piety  for  which 
she  was  distinguished  at  first,  and  errors  may  have  occasion- 
ally appeared  which  were  not  sufhciendy  rebuked  ;  but  even 
these  were  owing  to  the  harsh  treatment  of  her  Popish  neigh- 
bours. The  Presbyterian  Church  government  was  invaded. 
From  1645  to  1659,  a  period  of  fourteen  years,  no  General 
Assembly  or  Synod  was  allowed  to  be  held,  and  so  the 
Church  had  no  opportunity  of  checking  incipient  error,  or 
exercising  necessary  discipline.  In  such  circumstances,  it 
would  have  been  strange  if  the  Presbyterian  Church  did  not 
suffer  some  degeneracy.  Were  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  not  to  meet  for  fourteen  years,  how 
serious  would  be  the  evil !  The  very  fact,  however,  of  the 
continued  and  bitter,  and  increasing  hostility  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  to  her,  is  no  mean  proof  that  she  still  retained  her 
decidedly  evangelical  character.  Popery  has  litUe  quarrel 
with  error,  however  serious.  Indeed,  error  is  always,  to  a 
great  extent,  allied  to  herself.  It  is  truth,  vital,  living  Chris- 
tianity, wdiich  is  intolerable  to  her  spirit,  principles,  and 
claims.  The  highest  authority  has  said,  "  All  who  will  live 
godly  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecution."  And  the 
history  of  the  French  Protestant  Church  impressively  proves 
and  proclaims  the  sentiment. 

But  we  must  turn  to  more  direct  evidence  of  the  tyranni- 
cal treatment  to  w^hich  the  Protestant  Church  was  subjected 


OF    FRANCE.  207 

previous  to  the  repeal  of  the  edict.  In  religious  persecution, 
the  oppressed  party  often  suffers  for  political  reasons.  It  is 
punished,  not  because  it  is  religious,  but  because  it  is  disloy- 
al and  seditious.  In  restraining  it,  the  State  is  only  acting 
on  self-defence.  Hence  the  origin  of  the  penal  enactments 
against  Popery  in  this  country ;  but  it  was  not  thus  with  the 
Protestants  of  France.  No  one,  with  the  least  pretence  of 
reason,  could  accuse  them  of  doubtful  attachment  to  the 
Crown.  They  were,  like  the  suffering  Presbyterians  of 
Scotland,  remarkable  for  their  loyalty.  At  the  very  time 
that  the  twenty  year's  persecution  began,  which  terminated 
in  the  abrogation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  they  had  rendered 
a  distinguished  service  to  the  family  of  the  reigning  monarch 
— so  much  so,  that  both  Louis  XIV.  and  his  mother  acknow- 
ledged it  by  public  proclamation;  and  yet  they  were  forth- 
with made  the  victims  of  the  most  intolerable  oppression. 
What  does  this  prove,  but  that  the  true  source  of  their  suffer- 
ing was  their  religion — the  hatred  of  the  unrenewed  mind  of 
man  to  the  free  and  holy  Gospel  which  they  professed.  We 
shall  mark  a  few  of  tlie  more  prominent  points  in  the  march 
of  persecution,  merely  premising  that  we  have  room  for  very 
few,  and  that  there  can  be  no  question  the  whole  which  is 
recorded  bears  a  very  small  proportion  to  what  was  actually 
inflicted.  So  early  as  1626,  the  Synod  of  Castres  was  con- 
strained to  present  such  a  summary  of  wrongs  as  the  follow- 
ing:— 

"  His  Majesty  is  most  humbly  petitioned  to  cast  his  royal 
eyes  of  compassion  upon  the  deep  afflictions  of  his  Protestant 
subjects,  who,  though  they  have  always  laboured  to  gain  and 
keep  the  love  and  friendship  of  their  fellow-citizens,  as  coun- 
trymen, are  yet,  notwithstanding,  in  divers  places  of  the 
kingdom,  molested  in  their  persons,  disturbed  in  the  exercise 
of  their  religion,  deprived  of  their  temples,  yea,  and  see  them 
demolished  before  their  faces  ever  since  the  peace,  or  else  given 
away  from  them  for  dwelling-houses  unto  the  Romish  priests 
and  ecclesiastics ;  and  that  they  be  dispossessed  of  their  bury- 
ing-places,  and  the  dead  bodies  of  very  many  persons  digged 
up  most  ignominiously ;  that  our  ministers  have  been  bar- 
barously beaten,  bruised,  wounded,  and  driven  away  from 
their  churches,  although  they  have  been  the  most  innocent 
and  inoffensive  persons  in  the  world,  who  neither  injured 
the  public  in  general,  nor  any  one  in  particular,  as  our  gene- 
ral deputies  shall  more  and  at  large  make  report  hereof  unto 
his  Majesty." 


208  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

Five  years  later  the  infractions  of  the  edict  had  risen  to 
such  a  height,  that  the  second  Synod  of  Charenton  was  com- 
pelled to  address  the  king  in  a  long  paper  of  grievances,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  extract.  Among  other  things, 
they  complain  of  the  royal  bounty  which,  though  small,  had 
been  of  important  use  to  the  Church,  having  been  withheld 
for  eight  years : 

"  This  desolation.  Sir,  is  therefore  the  more  worthy  of 
your  royal  compassions,  because  it  is  extreme;  for  in  Viva- 
retz  there  be  nine-and-twenty  churches  wholly  destitute  of 
all  religious  worship,  and  in  Cevennes  nineteen,  and  in  the 
Land  and  Isles  of  Re  Olleron  there  be  twenty-four,  besides 
those  which  decay,  through  the  many  cunning  obstructions 
brought  against  the  rebuilding  of  the  demolished  temples  in 
Xaintonge,  Burgundy,  Brittain,  Berry,  Normandy,  Poitou, 
and  the  lower  Guyenne,  whose  number,  indeed  is  not  so 
great,  but,  however,  their  damage  is  inestimable.  And,  Sir, 
all  the  Provinces  demand  no  new  favour  of  your  Majesty, 
but  only  what  hath  been  formally  granted  them  by  your 
edicts." 

These  petitions  produced  little  or  no  effect.  Fair  promises 
may  have  been  made  by  the  civil  authority,  but  the  ecclesi- 
astical was  too  powerful  for  it;  and  so,  after  twelve  years  of 
complaint,  the  condition  of  the  Protestants  was  worse  than 
before.  In  1637,  a  Bill  of  Grievances  was  given  in  to  the 
king  running  to  seven  long  folio  pages,  describing  the  various 
ways  in  which  these  faithful  men  were  annoyed  and  perse- 
cuted, even  when  the  country  was  blessed  with  peace,  and 
when  the  Protestants  could  look  up  to  a  monarch,  not  open- 
ly, at  least,  opposed  to  them.  What,  then,  must  have  been 
the  state  of  things  when  the  usual  restraints  of  society  were 
weakened  by  the  distractions  of  war?  If  there  were  so 
much  oppression  under  the  reign  of  the  edict,  what  must 
have  been  its  amount  when  that  reign  was  broken  up?  In 
the  paper  referred  to,  the  Protestants  speak  of  thirty-nine 
places  where  the  king,  by  some  previous  order,  had  com- 
manded their  churches  should  be  restored,  and  after  a  lapse 
of  twelve  years  that  order  was  still  unfulfilled.  They  speak 
also  of  other  forty-nine  places  where  the  exercise  of  their 
religion,  during  the  last  ten  years,  "  by  the  wickedness  and 
violence  of  those  troublesome  times,"  had  been  removed,  and 
of  their  schools  being  disturbed,  and  their  children  seized  for 
Popish  baptism,  their  ministers  driven  away  from  their  parish- 
es, and  they  themselves  required,  in  the  most  open  manner,  to 


OF    FRANCE.  209 

counteHance  the  abominations  of  Popish  superstition  and  idol- 
atry; and  yet  it  was  during  this  and  a  similar  period,  those 
beautiful  indications  of  Christian  character  appeared,  of  which 
I  have  spoken  in  former  sections.  Who  does  not  see  in  this 
the  power  of  Divine  grace,  supporting  the  faithful,  and  mak- 
ing them  fruitful  even  in  the  darkest  and  most  adverse  days? 
Suppose  that  the  churches  of  our  country  were  shut  up  or 
pulled  down  at  the  rate  of  thirty-nine  in  one  brief  period, 
and  forty-nine  in  another,  could  we  justly  wonder  that  the 
cause  of  true  religion  was  greatly  deteriorated?  It  is  only 
the  special  blessing  of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  which 
can  explain  its  maintenance  in  any  tolerable  strength  amid 
such  unfavourable  circumstances.  We  subjoin  an  extract 
from  the  Bill  of  Grievances  of  1637. 

"And  whereas  your  Majesty  was  pleased,  in  considera- 
tion of  our  Bill  of  Grievances,  presented  to  your  Majesty  in 
the  year  1625,  to  ordain  that  the  churches  and  the  grounds 
(wherein  we  bury  our  dead,  which  have  been  taken  away 
from  those  of  our  religion  in  these  following  places : — Lunel, 
Sommieres,  Florensac,  Le  Vigan,  Mazellargues,  Villemur,  St. 
Antonia,  and  Puymirol)  should  be  restored,  and  that  they 
should  be  permitted  to  rebuild  their  temples  in  the  same  places 
which  had  been  accorded  to  us  by  the  edict;  none  of  the 
ordinances  of  your  Majesty  have  been  in  the  least  executed; 
yea,  smce  this,  it  hath  so  fallen  out  that  the  churches  and 
church-yards  of  Vitte  Goudou,  of  Castres,  St.  Affirick,  St. 
Gelais,  Valy,  Vallon,  Aubenas,  St.  Estienne  in  Forest, 
Senes,  and  divers  other  places  in  Annix,  the  Isle  of  Re,  and 
Province  of  Burgundy,  have  been  forcibly  taken  away  and 
detained  from  us,  and  the  building  of  our  temples  at  La  Motte 
of  Argues  and  Canmont  is  quite  obstructed ; — we  therefore 
do  most  humbly  beseech  your  Majesty  to  continue  unto  us 
that  royal  favour  you  had  before  granted  us  by  your  edicts, 
and  by  your  gracious  promise,  upon  the  reading  of  the  afore- 
said Bill  of  Grievances,  and  that  you  would,  according  to  it, 
ordain  that  the  aforesaid  churches  and  church  yards  may  be 
rendered  and  restored  in  all  those  places  before  mentioned; 
and  that  your  Majesty  would  be  pleased  to  forbid  all  trou- 
bling of  us  in  the  rebuilding  and  the  re-establishing  of  them, 
and  particularly  at  Aubenas,  where  the  inhabitants  are  con- 
strained to  bury  their  dead  in  the  open  fields,  and  they  will 
not  suffer  any  more  than  three  persons  to  accompany  the 
poor  corpse  unto  that  uncouth  grave  neither." 

It  would  but  weary  the  reader  to  attempt  to  detail  the 
14 


210  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

many  and  growing  breaches  of  the  Protective  Edict  during 
the  next  twenty  years.  Louis  XIII.  died  in  1643,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Louis  XIV. ;  but  in  spite  of  all  the  loyalty  and 
services  of  the  Protestants,  in  vindicating  his  legitimacy  and 
title  to  the  throne,  and  in  spite  of  the  royal  promises  and 
proclamations  which,  from  time  to  time,  were  made  in  their 
behalf,  intolerance  and  persecution  held  their  course ;  now 
and  then  slackening  their  speed  for  a  little,  but  only  to 
break  out  in  new  violence.  Thus  it  ever  has  been  with  the 
Church  of  Rome  where  she  has  had  the  power,  and  where 
she  has  had  living  evangelical  Christianity  with  which  to 
contend.  She  may  go  on  peacefully  with  Infidelity,  or  So- 
cinianism,  or  even  dead  Orthodoxy,  but  she  cannot  endure  a 
living  Gospel.  These  two,  Popery  and  Evangelism,  are 
not  merely  different  from  each  other,  they  are  opposite  and 
mutually  destructive — they  inust  maintain  an  unyielding 
warfare.  This  doubtless,  is  "  the  sword"  which  the  Saviour 
declared  he  brought  to  the  earth. 

Passing  over  twenty  years  in  the  history,  let  us  come 
down  to  1660,  the  sad  year  when,  as  the  event  showed,  an 
almost  Popish  king  (Charles  II.)  was  restored  to  the  throne 
of  Britain — how  fared  matters  with  the  poor  Protestants  of 
France  at  that  time,  and  during  the  subsequent  years? 
Popery  received  an  impulse,  and  manifested  its  persecuting 
power  in  Scotland  and  in  France  at  the  same  moment.  In- 
deed, from  the  connexion  between  the  royal  families,  as  well 
as  the  substantial  identity  of  their  religious  creed  and  prac- 
tice, there  is,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  a  remarkable  cor- 
respondence in  the  religious  history  of  the  two  countries. 
When  Popery  rose  in  France  its  influence  was  immediately 
felt  in  Britain;  when  it  received  a  blow  in  France,  the  happy 
change  was  forthwith  fell  in  this  country.  From  the  StatiLS 
Ecclesix  Gallicanae  I  extract  a  specimen  of  the  acts  injurious 
to  Protestants,  passed  by  the  king's  counsel  in  five  brief 
years,  beginning  with  1060. 

"One  act  (May  6,  1659,  and  March  17,  1661)  hath  be- 
reaved them  of  the  liberty  of  praising  God,  by  forbidding  the 
singing  of  the  Psalms,  even  privately  in  their  houses,  though 
it  be  an  eminent  part  of  Christian  worship. 

"  Another  act  (August  7,  and  November  3,  1664)  compel- 
leth  them  to  bury  their  dead  clandestinely,  and  in  the  night, 
forgetting  that  the  very  heathen  had  respect  to  the  tombs  of 
their  enemies. 

"  Another  (October  5,  1663)  hath  divested  Protestant  ma- 


OF    FRANCE.  211 

gistrates  (whatever  be  their  charge  or  quaHty)  of  the  privi- 
lege of  presiding  in  their  courts. 

"  ^noiher  (February  26,  1663)  hath  taken  away  all  means 
of  instructing  or  educating  their  children,  leaving  them  at 
most  (and  tliat  only  in  some  places)  the  smaller  schools, 
where  is  only  taught  to  read,  write,  and  count. 

"  Another  (January  19,  1663)  hath  restrained  the  liberty 
of  printing  any  books  in  favour  of  their  religion, by  imposing 
upon  them  a  necessity  of  obtaining  licenses  from  the  king's 
council,  which  cannot  be  had. 

"Another  (Declar.  October  24,  1663,  and  Act  of  Council, 
January  30,  1665)  ordaineth  parents  to  give  pensions  to  their 
children  who  change  their  religion,  even  although  the  said 
children  will  not  dwell  with  them;  as  if  parental  authority 
were  nulled  by  children's  apostasy. 

"  Another  (October  5,  1665)  prohibits  the  exercise  of 
charity  toward  their  brethren  who  are  in  want. 

"  Another  dischargeth  payment  of  debts,  by  those  of  the 
commonalty  who  shall  turn  Papists. 

"  Another  (February  22,  1664)  prohibits  ministers  to 
preach  without  the  place  of  their  residence ;  thereby  depriv- 
ing the  Hugonots  of  the  benefit  of  annexations;  that  is,  the 
privilege  of  one  minister  supplying  two  churches,  which  sin- 
gly are  not  able  to  afford  a  competent  maintenance. 

"Another  (September  13,  1660)  deprives  them  of  the 
liberty  of  their  classical  meetings  in  the  intervals  of  Synods, 
whereby  the  exercise  of  discipline  is  restrained. 

"  Another  (October  5,  1663)  prohibits  the  censuring  of 
Protestant  parents  by  the  parochial  eldership,  or  otherwise 
for  sending  their  children  to  be  educated  by  Jesuit  or  Popish 
tutors. 

•'  Another  (September  18,  1664)  gives  liberty  to  priests 
and  friars  to  enter  the  houses  of  Protestants,  and  to  come  to 
their  bed-sides  when  sick  or  dying,  to  solicit  them  to  change 
their  religion.  And  after  their  death,  they  carry  away  their 
children,  alleging  falsely,  that  their  parents  at  their  death 
gave  some  sign  of  willingness  to  embrace  the  Romish  reli- 
gion. 

"Another  (June  30,  1663)  makes  it  criminal  in  ministers 
to  style  themselves  pastors  or  ministers  of  the  Word  of  God. 
They  forbid  ministers  to  wear  a  long  garment,  that  they  may 
have  nothing  to  distinguish  them  from  the  common  people." 

The  historian  adds,  "  the  clergy  also  do  endeavour  to  af- 
fright the  Protestant  ministers.     Some  they  have  violently 


212  PKOTESTANT    CHURCH 

silenced,  others  they  seek  to  ensnare  on  every  hand;  some 
they  criminally  indict  for  very  trifles;  some  are  banished, 
others  are  transported  whither  their  adversaries  please;  and 
they  vex  them  so,  to  the  end  no  man  may  be  willing  to  em- 
brace the  calling  of  a  minister." 

Can  any  thing  be  conceived  more  discouraging  or  vexa- 
tious, without  proceeding  to  the  higher  forms  of  persecution? 
Surely  it  reminds  one  of  what  the  Scriptures  call,  the 
"  wearing  out  the  saints"  of  the  Most  High.  In  these,  and 
subsequent  years  too,  the  work,  not  of  church  extension,  but 
of  church  demolition,  went  forward  with  terrible  rapidity. 
By  a  single  decree  of  August,  1662,  not  less  than  twenty- 
three  churches  were  pulled  down  on  the  merest  pretences, 
sheer  tricks  of  law.  Next  year,  one  hundred  and  two 
churches  shared  the  same  fate ;  thirteen  followed  the  year 
succeeding;  in  1664,  forty-nine;  so  that,  in  four  short  years, 
not  less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  places  of  Protes- 
tant worship  were  destroyed.  The  historian  adds,  that 
"  many  churches  have  been  destroyed  since  1666,  yet  few 
of  their  names  are  come  to  our  hands."  The  names  of  all 
the  others,  and  the  date  and  decrees  of  their  overthrow,  are 
given ;  so  that  there  can  be  no  exaggeration  in  a  statement 
which  almost  seems  incredible.  In  Scotland,  at  the  same 
period,  faithful  ministers  were  expelled  from  their  churches 
in  hundreds;  but  the  churches  themselves  vv-ere  preserved 
for  very  unworthy  successors.  In  France,  the  spirit  of  Po- 
pery was  stronger  and  less  controlled;  and  so  it  destroyed 
the  very  churches  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  author  of  Stat- 
us Ecclesise,  &c.  says,  "The  Hugonotshave  lost  three  parts 
of  four  of  all  their  churches  ;"  anil  if  the  Papists  were  so  un- 
merciful upon  the  churches,  what  must  have  been  their  spi- 
rit to  the  ministers  and  people?  Quick,  in  his  Synodicon, 
says,  that,  previous  to  the  year  1673,  the  Popish  party  had 
desolated  hundreds  of  churches,  under  colour  of  law.  A 
monk,  from  Beam,  boasted,  that  out  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-three  churches  in  that  province,  resting  on  the  most 
unquestionable  legal  titles,  only  twenty  were  spared.  In 
1674,  out  of  sixty-one  churches  in  Poitou,  only  one  was  un- 
condemned ;  so  that  eighty  thousand  persons  were  thrown 
destitute  of  the  means  of  grace.  In  Guienne,  eighty  churches 
were  reduced  to  three  ;  in  Gex,  twenty-three  to  two;  in  Pro- 
vence, sixteen  to  three;  and  so  of  the  other  provinces.  In- 
deed, Quick  says  of  some  districts,  "  If  there  be  any  churches 
standing,  and  not  converted  into  ruinous  heaps,  they  be  such 


OF    FRANCE.  213 

as  are  most  inconveniently  situated  in  marshes  or  low 
grounds,  which  were  often  overflown  with  water,  or  impas- 
sable in  winter  ;  so  that  these  poor  Christians  were  depri- 
ved of  all  possibility  of  hearing  God's  word,  and  necessitated 
to  travel  forty  miles  and  more  to  worship  God  publicly,  and 
to  get  their  children  baptized." 

This  was  one,  and  to  a  Christian  people  a  very  distressing 
form  of  persecution,  in  some  respects  the  most  grievous  of 
all;  but  there  were  many — so  much  so,  that  Quick,  the  his- 
torian, was  obliged  to  arrange  them  under  six  leading  heads, 
and  the  record  of  the  awful  proof  extends  to  nearly  sixty 
closely  printed  folio  pages.     The  period  of  which  I  now 
write  consists  of  the  twenty-five  years  which  preceded  the 
repeal  of  the  edict,  stretching  from  1660  to  1685 — years 
stained  in  a  peculiar  manner  with  the  barbarities  and  atroci- 
ties of  persecution — sadly,  but  successfully,  preparing  the 
way  for  the  grand  consummation  of  cruelty  and  blood.  Some 
of  the  proceedings  of  these  years  have  been  already  noticed. 
I  shall  add  only  a  few  additional  points,  but  I  am  sure  the 
reader  will  consider  them  a  sufficient  specimen.     Though 
the  edict  of  Nantes  had  expressly  and  carefully  granted  the 
right  to  Protestants  of  holding  public  offices,  and  though 
from  their  superior  education  they  were  employed  to  a  great 
extent  in  these  departments,  yet  one  of  the  first  infractions 
was  to  deprive  them  of  all  such  offices,  even  in  towns  where 
the  great  majority  belonged  to  the  Reformed  Church.     As 
in  primitive  times  there  were  Christians  in  Cesar's  house- 
hold, so  were  there  Protestants — and  this  was  much  to  their 
honour — connected  with  the  King's  household.     One  would 
not  wonder  much  that  malignant  influence  should  rob  them 
of  these  appointments,  and  of  those  belonging  to  royal  courts; 
but  the  deprivation  went  much  further  than  this.     In  1680, 
the  king  issued  an  order  for  depriving  them  in  general  of  all 
kinds  of  offices  and  employments  whatsoever,  from  the  great- 
est to  the  least.    They  were  pronounced  incapable  of  serving 
in  the  custom-houses,  the  guards,  treasury,  or  post-office — of 
being  messengers,  coachmen,  or  waggoners,  or  any  thing  of 
that  kind;  and  during  the  succeeding  years  down  to  the  recall 
of  the  edict,  the  professions  in  which  the  Protestants  could 
serve,  were  always  more  and  more  narrowed.      One  very 
important  restriction  was,  that  they  were  rendered  incapable 
of  acting  as  tutors  or  guardians.     Hence  the  cliildren  of  Pro- 
testant parents  who  were  minors,  were  brought  under  the 


214  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

power  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  these  were  often  fami- 
lies of  weahli  and  influence. 

Another  instrument  of  oppression  was,  a  decree  by  which 
Protestants  professing  Popery  were  released  from  any  debts 
that  were  due  to  their  Protestant  brethren,  for  the  -three 
years  preceding  their  so  called  conversion.  This  was  noth- 
ing short  of  a  bonus  upon  covetousness,  fraud  and  hypocrisy. 
When  a  man  wished  to  get  rid  of  a  troublesome  debt,  he  had 
merely  to  profess  Popery  and  he  was  released.  Nay,  the 
public  taxes  of  the  new  converts  were  laid  upon  the  Protes- 
tants who  remained  firm,  and  thus  their  charges  were  arbi- 
trarily raised  from  forty  or  fifty,  to  seven  or  eight  hundred 
livres.  Another  fearful  oppression  was,  a  decree  by  which 
the  Protestant  ministers  forfeited  their  churches,  had  their 
property  confiscated,  they  themselves  exiled,  if  they  received 
any  convert  from  Popery.  Even  in  these  troublous  times, 
the  Popish  party  dreaded  the  power  and  progress  of  the 
truth;  and  so,  while  they  held  out  the  most  avaricious  temp- 
tations to  the  Protestants  to  become  Papists,  they  held  out 
the  most  formidable  prohibitions  against  the  Papists  becoming 
Protestants.  Frequently  nothing  more  was  necessary  than 
for  an  insidious  Roman  Catholic  to  mix  himself  up  with  a 
Protestant  congregation,  and  say  that  he  had  been  converted 
to  it,  in  order  to  draw  down  upon  the  minister  all  the  dread 
penalty  of  proselytism.  We  may  sum  up  a  few  of  the 
persecuting  ordinances  of  this  period,  in  an  extract  from 
Quick's  Synodicon.  In  a  few  years  they  amounted  to  not 
less  than  thirty-four,  all  of  them  vexatious — many  cruel  in 
the  extreme. 

*'  The  first  of  these  orders  which  appeared,  was  touching 
the  manner  of  burial  and  interring  the  dead.  In  those  places 
where  the  exercise  of  our  religion  was  actually  established, 
the  number  of  attendants  was  reduced  to  thirty  persons,  and 
to  ten  where  it  was  not. 

*'  Orders  were  also  issued  out  to  hinder  the  communica- 
tion of  one  province  with  another  by  circular  letters,  or  any 
other  way  whatsoever;  though  it  were  about  matters  of  alms 
and  the  distributions  of  charity. 

*'  One  decree  forbiddelh  the  singing  of  psalms  in  their 
private  houses,  yea,  and  another  to  forbear  singing  in  their 
temples,  when  as  their  consecrated  host  was  carried  by  in 
procession. 

'*  Other  decrees  banish  out  of  France  all  foreign  ministers 


OF    FRANCE.  215 

not  born  in  the  kingdom,  though  they  had  been  ordained  in 
France,  and  spent  the  greatest  part  of  their  lives  in  it. 

"  Another  decree  hindereth  rich  cluirches  from  assisting 
the  weaker  in  maintaining  of  their  ministers,  and  other  ne- 
cessities. 

"  Another  forbiddeth  Jews  and  Mahomedans  to  embrace 
the  Reformed  rehgion,  and  the  ministers  either  to  instruct  or 
receive  them  into  it. 

"  Another  forbiddeth  consistories,  on  pretence  of  charity, 
to  assist  poor  sick  persons  of  their  rehgion  ;  and  ordaineth, 
that  our  sick  shall  be  carried  into  the  Popish  hospitals,  most 
strictly  forbidding  all  persons  to  entertain  them  in  their 
houses. 

"  Another  subjecteth  sick  and  dying  persons  to  the  neces- 
sity of  receiving  visits  sometimes  from  judges,  commission- 
ers, churchwardens,  sometimes  of  curates,  monks,  mission- 
aries, or  other  Popish  ecclesiastics,  thereby  to  induce  them 
to  change  their  religion,  or  to  require  of  them  an  express  de- 
claration concerning  it. 

"  Another  doth  enjoin  all  physicians,  apothecaries,  and 
chirurgeons,  to  notify  unto  curates  and  magistrates  the  condi- 
tion of  sick  Protestants,  that  so  those  dying  persons  may  be 
visited  by  them.'' 

Dreadful  as  this  catalogue  is,  I  must  add  to  it.  It  is  due 
to  the  memory  of  the  suffering  saints  of  God  to  show  how 
much  they  endured.  It  is  useful,  also,  to  know  well  the 
horrible  atrocities  of  Popery,  and  the  relentless  hostility  of  the 
unrenewed  mind  to  evangelical  religion.  One  wonders  at 
the  ingenuity  which  is  discovered  in  framing  modes  of  an- 
noyance and  persecution.  The  whole  talent  of  the  mind — 
and  that  of  the  French  is  not  small — seems  to  have  been 
turned  into  the  channel  of  cruelty — one  is  reminded  of  more 
than  mortal,  of  Satanic  agency.  Oh,  how  different  the  re- 
sult, had  men  been  as  ingenious,  as  laborious  in  benevolence, 
as  in  spreading  pain.  Louis  was  indeed  engaged  in  an  enter- 
prise, in  which  all  monarchs,  even  the  most  powerful,  had 
hitherto  failed.  The  attempt  to  extirpate  true  religion,  not 
in  the  bud,  but  after  it  had  acquired  considerable  strength, 
and  was  professed  by  the  intelligent,  the  learned,  the  weal- 
thy of  the  middle  classes,  of  a  comparatively  civilized  nation, 
was  almost  unprecedented — more  arduous  than  any  external 
war.  It  was  necessary  that  the  instruments  of  fraud  and 
force  should  correspond.  After  all,  the  success,  though 
wonderful,  was  far  from  complete.     I  am  writing  now  of  the 


216  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

five  or  six  years  which  immediately  preceded  the  Revocation. 
In  1679,  the  Courts  of  Toulouse,  Bordeaux,  and  Grenoble, 
before  which  civil  and  criminal  charges  affecting  the  Protes- 
tants  had  been  tried,  were  abolished,  because  the  parties 
were  so  quiet  and  regular,  that  no  cases  had  been  tried  for 
many  years.     The  very  correctness  of  the  reformed,  with 
perverse  ingenuity,  was  employed  as  a  reason  why   their 
protection  should  be  withdrawn,  and  their  causes   handed 
over  to  the  courts  of  their  enemies.     To  encourage  Popish 
conversions,  in  other  words,  apostasies,  from  a  Protestant 
■Ciuu'ch,  the  apostates  were  declared  free  from  the  liability  of 
(prosecution   for   debt   for   several  years,  of  any  Protestant 
/creditor.     The  intermarriage  of  Protestants  and  Roman  Ca- 
■  tholics  was  forbidden.     There  was  no  great  harm  in  this ; 
;  and  it  would  have  been  well  had  it  been  always  and  univer- 
;  sally  attended  to ;  but  it  was  meant  as  an  engine  of  oppres- 
:  sion — and  the  next  step  was  horrible.     It  was  neither  more 
nor  less  than  constituting  Protestant  children,  at  the  age  of 
seven  years,  capable  of  saying  whether  they  would  remain 
in  the  religion  of  their  fathers,  or  join  the  pompous  religion 
of  the  Church  of  Rome.     The  children  of  every  Protestant 
family  were  thus  exposed  to  the  thousand  briberies  of  nurses 
and  false  friends,  and  the  parents  harassed  with  perpetual 
anxieties  the  moment  their  children  were  out  of  their  sight. 
Another   device    was,   to   forbid  Protestant  public  worship 
where  one  Roman  Catholic,  or  an  apostate  from  the  Re- 
formed, was  present.     This  threw  all  Protestant  congrega- 
tions into  a  panic.     Many  were  afraid  to  assemble ;  others 
scrutinized   every  person  who  entered.     The  next  charge 
was,  that  being  thus  left  alone,  the  Protestant  pastors  preach- 
ed sedition.     To  prevent  this,  a  particular  part  of  the  church 
was  devoted  to  Roman  Catholic  inspectors,  who  soon  came 
in  such  crowds,  and  practised  such  indignities,  as  to  disturb 
and  defeat  the  ends  of  Divine  worship  altogether.     Severe 
oppressions  at  home  induced  many  to  think  of  emigrating  to 
a  foreign  shore.     In   1682,  there  were  not  less   than  three 
thousand   Protestant  families  who  emigrated  from  a  single 
quarter.     The  depopulation  of  the  country,  which  they  them- 
selves thus  created,  alarmed  the  Government.     Departure 
from  France  was  therefore  made  severely  penal.    In  the  case 
of  a  sailor  or  manufacturer,  the  punishment  was  confinement 
for  life  to  the  galley-boat.     Down  to  1683,  the  patience  of 
the  people  was  wonderful.     Nothing  could  tempt  them  to 
any  resistance  or  retaliation.     The  Christian  virtue  of  meek- 


OF    FRANCE.  217 

ness,  we  may  safely  say,  was  carried  to  excess,  and  it  pro- 
cured them  no  release.  The  Protestants,  thinking  at  this  time 
that  they  were  oppressed  the  more,  because  tlie  king,  from 
their  quietness,  imagined  that  they  were  extinct,  resolved  to 
meet  simultaneously  all  over  the  country,  even  in  places  of 
worship  where  they  had  been  forbidden,  and  among  the 
ruins  of  those  which  had  been  thrown  down.  In  short,  they 
wished  to  give  some  public  manifestation  of  their  existing 
numbers  and  strength,  hoping  that  this  might  undeceive,  and 
perhaps  propitiate  the  Court.  The  sight  must  have  been  a 
very  affecting  one,  hundreds  and  thousands  assembled  at 
once,  often  among  the  ruins  of  churches.  But  the  Popish 
party  were  inexorable.  The  story  of  the  numberless  con- 
versions which  had  been  made  from  the  ranks  of  the  Reform- 
ed might  be  a  little  damaged ;  but  the  old  reign  of  persecu- 
tion continued,  or  rather  it  became  worse.  A  French  army 
which  was  marching  against  Spain,  was  turned  against  the 
south  of  France — in  the  first  instance,  against  Beam,  which 
had  once  been  a  Protestant  stronghold,  and  which  still  retained 
a  share  of  its  Protestant  character.  The  dragonades,  in  other  l 
words,  the  system  of  quartering  dragoons  on  the  suspected,  y* 
a  favourite  mode  of  persecution  in  Scotland,  was  introduced  j 
in  1685,  and  long  continued.  So  exactly  do  the  proceedings  L 
in  the  two  countries  under  this  head  correspond,  that  one 
would  think  Louvois,  the  French  minister,  and  Claverhouse, 
the  bloody  Dundee  of  ScoUand,  must  have  had  some  mutual 
understanding.  An  army  might  be  said  to  be  let  loose  on  the 
southern  provinces  of  France,  and  all  punishments,  however 
wanton  and  cruel,  inflicted,  short  of  immediate  death.  Amid 
such  heavy  oppressions,  it  may  scarcely  be  worth  while  to 
notice  the  smaller  enactments  passed  about  this  time,  except 
as  proving  the  attachment  of  the  Reformed  to  their  pastors, 
and  their  love  of  knowledge.  No  pastor  is  allowed  to  re- 
main in  one  charge  longer  than  three  years,  and  the  Reform- 
ed are  excluded  from  all  trades  connected  with  books  and 
literature.  Such  were  the  violence  of  the  persecution,  and 
the  slenderness  of  the  form  of  abjuration  of  Protestantism 
which  was  required,  that  in  a  few  provinces,  not  less  than 
two  hundred  and  forty  thousand,  it  is  said,  conformed  to  Po- 
pery in  a  month.  Of  course,  no  one  of  the  least  intelligence 
would  care  for  such  conversions;  they  were  merely  nominal, 
and  would  be  changed  the  moment  the  pressure  of  the  suf- 
fering was  removed.  But  the  Church  of  Rome  values  such 
external  conformity.     Her  religion  is  eminently  an  outward 


218 


PROTESTANT  CHURCH 


or  visible  religion.  If  men  will  only  acknowledge  her  au- 
thority, and  place  themselves  within  her  external  pale,  they 
may  believe  and  live  as  they  please.  She  cares  not  for  the 
state  of  the  heart  and  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God.  It  is 
the  outward  tie  which  gives  her  power  over  men,  and  that  is 
the  great  object  of  her  concern. 

Fearful  as  is  the  picture  which  I  have  already  given  of  the 
persecution  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France,  and  drawn 
from  the  most  unexceptionable  sources,  I  can  understand  the 
feeling  which  may  prompt  one  to  ask,  without  disparaging 
French  authorities,  whether  I  can  appeal  to  the  testimony  of 
any  intelligent  and  impartial  native  of  Britain,  in  behalf  of 
such  facts  as  those  which  I  have  been  detailing.  The  reader 
may  wish  to  hear  a  countryman  on  the  subject.  Happily  I 
can  appeal  to  the  testimony  of  a  respectable  nonconformist 
minister — the  Rev.  Thomas  Cotton,  who  afterwards  had  a 
charge  in  London:  he  was  an  eye-witness.  As  tutor  to  a 
gentleman,  he  visited  France  in  the  latter  days  of  Charles 
II.,  a  few  months  before  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes, 
and  therefore  just  at  the  time  of  which  I  have  been  writing. 
Wilson's  History  of  Dissenting  Churches  is  my  authority 
for  the  following  important  statements,  which  admirably  bear 
out  the  facts  which  have  been  collected  from  other  quarters. 
The  narrator  says,  that  their  situation  was  rendered  very  un- 
comfortable by  the  revocation  of  the  edict,  and  the  melan- 
choly account  which  they  heard  of  the  Protestants  in  distant 
parts  of  the  country.  Their  travelling  was  often  very  dan- 
gerous and  distressing.  In  the  course  of  it  they  witnessed 
many  dreadful  scenes  of  persecution — as  the  breaking  up  of 
large  congregations — the  demolishing  of  churches — the  si- 
lencing of  ministers — the  banishment  of  some — the  imprison- 
ment of  others — some  pastors  were  made  galley  slaves — 
others  put  to  a  cruel  death.  They  also  saw  numberless 
families  utterly  ruined,  and  the  nearest  relations  rent  asunder. 
They  were  present  at  Saumur,  a  seat  of  the  Protestant  min- 
istry, when  the  church  was  condemned,  and  orders  were  sent 
for  its  demolition.  They  relate  that  one  zealous  Papist 
was  anxious  for  his  daughter  to  take  down  the  first  stone, 
which  she  did.  Dying  shortly  after,  the  Protestants  natural- 
ly interpreted  the  event  as  a  proof  of  the  displeasure  of  the 
Great  Head  of  the  Church:  but  her  father,  on  the  contrary, 
considered  it  a  call  to  an  early  reward  for  a  meritorious  ser- 
vice. The  tearing  down  of  the  church  was  attended  with 
the  most  dreadful  outrages;  even  the  graves  of  Protestants 


OP    FRANCE.  219 

were  opened,  and  the  bodies  treated  with  indignity.  On  the 
British  travellers  interposing  with  the  Governor,  instead  of 
being  listened  to  they  were  ordered  to  assist  the  Roman 
Catholics  in  their  violence,  and  were  told  that  they  would, 
in  common  with  their  country,  be  soon  obliged  to  become 
Roman  Catholic,  for  Charles  was  dying,  and  his  successor 
(James  II.)  was  of  their  communion.  The  Papists  spoke  of 
the  death  of  the  British  king  with  great  confidence  five  days 
before  it  took  place — showing  how  profound  was  the  interest 
which  the  French  nation  were  taking  in  the  prospects  of  Po- 
pery in  Britain,  and  how  entirely  they  sympathized  with  the 
Popish  James.  Mr.  Cotton  describes  the  last  act  of  public 
worship  in  the  church  at  Saumur — the  church  in  which  the 
great  Robert  Boyd  ministered.  He  says,  that  the  congrega- 
tion all  in  tears — the  singing  the  last  psalm — the  pronounc- 
ing the  blessing — the  people  passing  before  their  ministers 
to  receive  the  benediction^ — were  attended  with  a  solemnity 
which  words  could  not  describe.  He  accompanied  the  exiled 
ministers  and  university  professors  to  the  vessel,  and  took 
leave  of  them  in  circumstances  of  great  danger.  He  wit- 
nessed similar  proceedings  at  Poictiers,  and  speaks  of  the 
vast  numbers  that  appeared  at  the  last  public  exercise,  and 
the  great  difficulty  with  which  the  ministers  pronounced  a 
blessing,  when  they  all  burst  forth  into  a  flood  of  tears.  On 
going  to  his  inn,  he  was  much  struck  with  the  following  cir- 
cumstance : — An  old  gentleman  of  considerable  family  and 
large  estate,  coming  into  the  house,  stood  leaning  on  his 
staff;  and  whilst  weeping  and  shaking  his  head,  exclaimed, 
"Unhappy  France!  If  I  and  mine  were  now  but  entering 
some  country  of  refuge,  where  we  might  worship  God  ac- 
cording to  our  conscience,  I  should  think  myself  the  hap- 
piest man  in  the  world,  though  1  had  only  this  staflf  in  my 
hand!"  Mr.  Cotton  was  also  present  at  the  breaking  up  of 
the  great  church  at  Charenton.  He  states,  that  the  sight  of 
the  vast  assembly  there  convened  was  most  transporting,  and 
that  the  thought  of  such  numbers  being  devoted  to  banish- 
ment, slavery,  and  the  most  barbarous  deaths,  some  cf  which 
he  witnessed,  was  more  than  he  could  bear.  Many  things, 
he  adds,  were  extremely  afllecting  to  him,  in  the  faith, 
courage,  and  devotion  of  the  sufferers,  particularly  of  some 
of  little  note,  from  whom  little  was  expected,  but  who  stood 
out  boldly,  and  suffered  the  loss  of  all,  whilst  others  of 
eminence  failed  in  the  day  of  trial.  He  speaks  also  of  the 
remarkable  deliverances  which  God  wrought  for  some  who 


220  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

were  doomed  to  death,  and  of  the  humanity  of  some  of  the 
Roman  Catholics,  who  were  shocked  with  the  prevailing 
severities.  On  reaching  Lyons,  the  travellers  heard  such 
afflictive  tidings  of  tlie  persecution,  and  became  so  alarmed 
for  their  own  safety,  that  they  were  glad  to  leave  France  as 
expeditiously  as  possible  for  Geneva,  where  they  met  with 
sad  tidings  of  the  persecution  of  the  Vaudois.  There  can 
be  no  doubt,  then,  that  the  sufferings  of  the  French  Protes- 
tants, previous  to  the  recall  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  were  deep 
and  comprehensive  indeed. 

Wodrow,  the  excellent  historian  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  at  the  same  period,  was  struck  with  the 
exactness  of  the  bloody  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  two 
Churches,  and  expresses  himself  in  the  strongest  language. 
"Whether,"  says  he,  "that  grand  oppressor  of  Protestants 
(Louis  XIV.)  copied  from  the  management  of  Britain  during 
this  reign,  or  if  rather  the  procedure  of  the  two  royal  brothers 
among  us,  was  in  concert  with  him,  and  paved  the  way  to 
his  beloved  project  of  rooting  out  the  northern  heresy,  T 
leave  others  to  determine.  A  large  parallel  might  be  drawn 
between  the  noble  confessors  in  France,  and  the  persecuted 
party  in  Scotland — betwixt  the  laws  made  against  the  Re- 
formed there,  and  those  against  Presbyterians  here,  and  the 
vigorous  execution  of  both ;  but  these  would  take  up  too 
much  time  and  room."  At  a  later  period  in  the  history,  the 
same  faithful  and  truly  Christian  chronicler  bears  testimony 
to  the  character  of  the  Church  of  France.  He  speaks  of 
"the  most  ungrateful  and  utter  razing  of  that  once  glorious 
and  numerous  Protestant  Church,  and  of  the  bloody  dragoon- 
ing conversion  which  followed;"  and  of  the  importance  of 
awakening  the  sympathies  of  Scottish  Christians  "  with  the 
the  noble  confessors  of  our  sister  Church  yet  remaining,  after 
so  long  and  black  a  night  as  they  have  been  under;  and  to 
quicken  any  who  have  interest  at  the  throne  of  grace,  to  re- 
double iheir  ardent  supplications  for  them,  and  that  the  Lord 
may  cherish  the  essays  and  struggles  which  good  numbers 
there  at  this  time  (1722)  seem  to  be  making  to  wrestle  from 
under  the  yoke  of  Rome  and  Popery."  He  then  recurs  to 
the  parallel  in  suffering  between  the  Churches  of  France  and 
Scotland — remarking,  that  "  the  French  king  never  ventured 
upon  revoking  the  famous  edict  of  Nantes,  whereof  Britain 
is  the  undoubted  guarantee,  till  once  our  throne  was  filled 
with  a  bigoted  Papist  (.Tames  IL,)  his  own  creature,  &c. 
'Jlien  was  the  proper  juncture  to  fall  upon  the  Reformed  in 


OP    FRANCE.  221 

France,  and  this  was  not  delayed  unnecessarily  one  mo- 
ment." "I  have  observed,"  says  he,  "with  surprise,  a 
considerable  agreement  between  a  collection  of  edicts,  arrests, 
and  acts  against  the  Reformed  in  France,  from  the  year  1660 
to  the  year  1683,  and  the  Acts  of  Council  and  Parliament  in 
Scotland — the  steps  taken,  the  penalties,  and  the  very  phrases 
in  both,  do  very  much  agree;  and,  generally  speaking,  the 
French  king  hath  the  honour  of  precedency  in  this  severe 
and  antichristian  work.  Whether  our  people  copied  after 
him,  I  cannot  say;  but  the  harmony  is  such,  one  is  almost 
forced  to  suspect  it." 

Though  I  have  already  referred  generally  to  the  repeated 
and  earnest  petitions  and  remonstrances  which  were  pre- 
sented to  the  king  by  the  poor  persecuted  Protestants,  yet 
the  reader  may  wish  to  see  a  specimen  of  such  documents  in 
a  complete  form.  I  transcribe  two — the  first  presented  by 
the  Duke  of  Schomberg.  Taken  together,  they  strikingly 
show  at  once  the  dreadful  persecution  which  was  endured, 
and  the  fine  spirit  of  piety,  and  meekness,  and  loyalty  with 
which  it  was  borne.  It  is  plain,  that  only  enlightened,  evan- 
gelical religion  could  have  prepared  the  way  for  and  dictated 
such  petitions  as  the  following.  They  breathe  the  pure  Gos- 
pel of  Christ: — 

"  Petition  presented  bv  Marischal  Schomberg  for  the  French 
Protestants. 

"  Sir, — We,  your  subjects  of  that  religion  (which  we  call 
the  Reformed,)  do,  with  most  profound  reverence,  cast  our- 
selves at  the  feet  of  your  Majesty,  that  so  we  may  represent 
the  many  aggrievances  which  have  becii  passed  upon  us, 
one  after  another,  and  may  most  humbly  beg  some  efiectual 
resentment  of  the  same,  from  your  justice  and  goodness. 

"  The  edicts  of  the  kings,  your  predecessors,  and  particu- 
larly those  of  Henry  the  Great,  and  Louis  the  First,  which 
your  Majesty  most  authentically  confirmed  at  your  happy 
inauguration;  and  since,  by  divers  and  sundry  declarations, 
have  always  had  regard  to  those  of  the  said  religion,  which 
consists  of  a  considerable  part  of  those  people  which  God 
has  committed  to  your  charge ;  and  as  such,  they  have  not 
only  been  permitted  to  exercise  their  employments,  and  arts, 
and  trades,  whereby  they  gain  their  livelihood,  but  also  have 
been  promoted  to  places  of  trust  and  honour,  as  effects  of 
their  merit  and  virtue;  they  have  also  enjoyed  a  liberty  of 


222  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

conscience,  by  a  free  exercise  of  their  religion  and  discipline 
in  all  places  privileged  by  the  aforesaid  edicts,  and  commis- 
sioners also  have  been  appointed  to  take  care  that  there 
should  be  no  infringements  or  violations  thereof. 

"  There  have  been  also  courts  of  justice,  consisting  of  men 
of  both  religions,  that  at  all  times  the  Protestant  might  be 
assured  of  impartial  justice,  both  as  to  their  persons  and 
estate.  And  the  gentlemen,  particularly,  had  right  to  place 
in  their  lie-farms,  those  of  one  or  the  other  religion,  without 
any  difference.  In  short,  your  petitioners  enjoyed  almost 
the  same  freedom  and  advantages,  as  the  other  subjects  of 
your  Majesty. 

"  It  is  true,  Sir,  that  these  are  the  concessions  of  the 
kings,  your  predecessors,  and  of  your  present  Majesty,  and 
have  been  established  with  such  circumstances  as  the  edicts 
themselves  call  a  perpetual  and  irrevocable  law,  designed 
purposely  to  keep  your  subjects,  both  of  the  one  and  the 
other  religion,  in  perfect  amity.  And  your  petitioners  can 
confidently  aver,  that  they  so  demeaned  themselves  under 
this  law  and  privileges,  as  never  to  have  rendered  themselves 
unworthy  thereof;  but,  on  the  contrary,  have  gained  this 
advantage,  that  your  Majesty  hath  made  many  solemn  and 
gracious  declarations,  testifying  the  entire  satisfaction  that 
your  Majesty  had  conceived  of  the  zeal  and  loyalty  of  your 
petitioners,  in  times  of  most  hazard  and  difficulty.  And  now, 
Sir,  we  need  not  to  search  the  histories  of  many  years  to  de- 
monstrate the  difference  of  our  present  condition  from  those 
times;  for  it  is  now  but  a  few  years  since  your  petitioners 
have  not  only  been  made  incapable  of  being  admitted  into 
public  offices,  but  discharged  of  those  in  which  they  were 
invested,  and  in  which  they  have  always  served  with  honour 
and  fidelity.  For,  contrary  to  the  true  intents  and  words  of 
this  edict,  they  have  taken  from  your  petitioners  the  privi- 
lege of  equal  admission  with  others  into  the  commission  of 
consulates  and  the  municipal  officers  of  towns,  even  in  those 
very  corporations  wherein  your  petitioners  are  the  greatest 
in  the  administration  of  the  civil  government  and  management 
of  that  money  which  is  levied  upon  them. 

"They  have  not  now  in  many  places  any  admittance  to 
the  meanest  office  in  the  public,  nor  are  they  licensed  to  ex- 
ercise those  arts  and  trades  whereby  they  gain  their  whole 
livelihood  and  subsistence. 

"  They  can  reckon  up  at  least  three  hundred  Protestant 
Churches,  which  in  the  space  of  ten  years  have  been  demol- 


OF    FRANCE.  223 

ished,  notwithstanding  that  some  of  theni  have  been  express- 
ly named  in  the  edict  of  Nantes,  and  others  comprehended 
within  the  limits  and  sense  thereof. 

"  The  Commissioners,  which  are  always  ready  to  receive 
process  against  your  petitioners,  yet  stop  their  ears  to  their 
complaints,  and  if  they  do  take  notice  of  them,  it  is  with  a 
corrupt  and  partial  sentence;  and  oftentimes  the  Catholic 
Commissioners  pronounce  judgment  against  your  petition- 
ers without  the  intervention  and  assent  of  those  of  their  reli- 
gion. 

"  Those  who  have  changed  from  the  Protestant  to  the 
Catholic  religion,  not  finding  that  quietness  of  conscience 
which  they  expected  therein,  so  that  they  have  returned  again 
to  their  first  persuasion,  have  been  exposed  to  the  most  rig- 
orous penances,  under  the  term  of  relapse,  and  the  ministers 
and  consistories  have  been  liable  to  be  suppressed. 

"  If  any  of  the  Catholics  become  Protestants,  they  pre- 
sently persecute  those  to  whom  they  applied  themselves  for 
clearing  their  doubts,  or  declaring  their  belief,  pretending 
that  thereby  they  come  within  the  compass  of  that  crime 
which  is  called  insubordination. 

"  The  chambers  of  this  edict  are  not  only  incorporated 
with  the  Parliaments,  against  the  express  sense  of  the  edicts, 
but  are  extinguished  wholly  and  suppressed. 

"  'J'he  children  of  your  petitioners,  though  born  in  their 
religion,  are  often  taken  from  them  before  they  have  attained 
to  that  age  which  the  edicts  allow  them,  before  they  are  ob- 
liged to  declare  the  religion  on  which  they  resolve  to  profess. 
And  if  hereupon  they  address  themselves  to  your  Commis- 
sioners, advising  them  to  put  in  execution  the  edict,  they 
either  refuse  to  take  cognizance  thereof,  or  else  elude  it  in 
that  manner,  that  for  several  years  together  they  take  not  the 
least  notice  of  their  complaints ;  nor  have  the  ordinary  judges 
any  regard  thereunto. 

"  They  will  not  suffer  the  Protestants  to  entertain  more 
than  one  schoolmaster  in  the  town  where  they  live;  and 
though  the  children  amount  to  two  or  three  thousand  in  num- 
ber, yet  they  will  not  allow  them  more  than  one  master  for 
them  all. 

"  Your  petitioners  have  been  much  surprised  by  a  declara- 
tion issued  out  for  changing  the  form  and  tenor  of  their  Sy- 
nods, by  placing  certain  Catholic  Commissioners  for  assis- 
tants therein — which  being  entirely  contrary  to  the  meaning 
and  substance  of  those  edicts  and  declarations  of  Louis  XIII., 


224  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

set  out  in  the  year  1623,  and  to  the  custom  always  observed^ 
hath  no  other  foundations  than  those  pretences  which  reflect 
on  the  honour  of  your  petitioners,  and  that  fidelity  which 
they  have  ever  possessed  towards  the  service  of  your  Ma- 
jesty. 

"  The  bishops,  under  colour  of  their  visitations,  and  by 
virtue  of  an  order  of  arrest  from  your  Privy  Council,  have 
pretended  to  suspend  the  exercises  of  the  religion  of  your 
petitioners  for  several  weeks. 

*'  The  clergy  which  have  entered  the  Protestant  churches, 
to  hear  sermons  which  are  there  preached,  do  object  unto  the 
ministers  matters  which  they  never  uttered,  or  take  advan- 
tage of  certain  terms  which  cannot  be  avoided  in  controversy, 
to  form  a  criminal  process  against  them  before  a  judge,  who 
is  prepossessed  with  a  prejudice  against  them;  and  in  the 
meantime  the  clergy  do  not  cease  to  justify  themselves 
against  the  petitioners,  by  such  courses  as  are  expressly  for- 
bidden by  the  aforesaid  edicts. 

*'  The  justices  of  several  places  to  whom  matters  relating 
to  the  edicts  did  never  appertain,  do  now  undertake,  by  un- 
known methods  of  procedure,  to  interdict  or  suspend  the 
ministers  of  whole  provinces. 

"  In  fine,  so  far  are  they  proceeded,  as  to  make  a  declara- 
tion forbidding  Protestant  women  to  make  use  of  other  chi- 
rurgeons  or  midwives,  than  those  which  are  Catholics,  that 
so  their  children  may  be  dipped  in  water  by  them  in  case  of 
necessity — which,  as  it  is  directly  opposite  to  the  sense  of 
the  edicts,  so  it  is  also  to  the  principles  of  that  religion  which 
your  petitioners  profess;  for  their  consciences  will  never  allow 
them  to  consent  hereunto,  because  that,  as  on  one  side,  they 
cannot  believe  that  baptism  is  of  an  absolute  and  indispensa- 
ble necessity,  where  death  prevents  the  due  care  and  caution 
we  use  to  obtain  it ;  so,  on  the  other  side,  your  petitioners 
have  that  just  reverence  to  so  great  a  sacrament,  as  not  to 
commit  the  same  to  the  administration  of  lay  persons,  nor 
believe  that  such  dipping  or  sprinkling  with  water  can  ever 
supply  the  place  of  baptism. 

'*  'J'hese  proceedings,  Sir,  and  many  more  of  them  very 
considerable,  are  more  easily  mentioned  in  general,  than  to 
be  troublesome  to  your  Majesty  in  a  recital  of  the  particulars, 
which  are  either  notoriously  known  to  the  world,  or  to  be 
justified  and  made  good  by  attestations  which  your  petition- 
ers have  in  their  hands,  together  with  judgments,  arrests, 
and  declarations.     All  the  world,  which  observes  the  low 


OF    FRANCE.  225 

condition  unto  Avhich  your  petitioners  are  reduced,  begin  to 
consider  them  as  persons  exposed  to  the  mahce  and  persecu- 
tion of  those  who  desire  their  total  destruction. 

"  Nothing  more  can  be  added  to  the  general  consternation 
of  those  who  profess  the  Protestant  religion  in  all  parts  of 
the  kingdom ;  so  that  many  for  fear,  or  for  necessity,  have 
been  forced  to  abandon  their  dwellings,  and  seek  their  repose 
in  the  dominions  of  strangers.  Such  as  remain  here  are  de- 
tained by  the  love  they  bear  to  their  native  country,  or  by 
some  difficulty  they  find  in  the  disposal  of  their  estates, 
though  the  greatest  number  are  obliged  with  an  affection  to 
your  Majesty  and  your  government.  In  all  these  aggriev- 
ances,  Sir,  your  petitioners  have  no  other  defence  and  pro- 
tection, under  God,  than  the  justice  and  clemency  of  your 
Majesty,  by  which  they  have  formerly  had  access  to  your  sa- 
cred person,  which  have  ever  lent  a  gentle  ear  to  the  just 
complaints  of  your  petitioners,  having  nominated  Commis- 
sioners of  your  Council  particularly  to  examine  their  cause, 
and  make  report  thereof  to  your  Majesty.  But  the  great  wars 
which  your  Majesty  hath  lately  maintained,  have  diverted 
this  care  to  greater  thoughts,  whereby  the  evils  and  oppres- 
sions of  your  petitioners  have  been  multiplied  and  increased. 

"  And  now.  Sir,  since  your  Majesty  enjoys  the  triumph 
of  those  glorious  successes  with  which  God  hath  favoured 
your  designs,  and  that  your  people  expect  likewise  to  share 
some  part  of  the  fruit  of  their  labours,  your  petitioners  hope, 
through  the  justice  and  gracious  goodness  of  your  Majesty, 
that  no  distinction  shall  be  made  between  your  petitioners 
and  your  other  subjects,  lest,  while  some  are  in  joy  and  at 
rest,  the  others  should  mourn  and  groan  under  oppressions. 

"  For  which  reason.  Sir,  and  because  your  petitioners  have 
ever  entertained  the  same  zeal  and  fidelity  to  your  service, 
may  it  please  your  majesty  to  make  known  to  the  lords  of 
your  Council,  Presidents,  and  Attorney-Generals  of  Parlia- 
ments, to  Superintendents  and  Commissioners  executing  the 
law,  that  your  royal  rule  and  pleasure  is,  that  the  edicts  be 
observed  and  executed ;  and  particularly  to  encharge  such 
Commissioners  as  are  already  named  by  your  Majesty,  or 
shall  be  hereafter  named,  that  they  examine  the  memorial 
and  papers  of  justification  which  your  petitioners  shall  pro- 
duce, and  to  inform  your  Majesty  thereof;  and  especially 
to  the  Secretaries  of  State,  that  a  due  report  may  be  made 
thereof,  and  of  those  aggrievances  and  burdens  which  are 
most  pressing,  that  so  your  Majesty,  being  truly  made  sensi- 

15 


226  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

ble  thereof,  may  act  therein  according  to  your  gracious  plea- 
sure. And  your  petitioners  shall  continue  their  vows  and 
prayers  for  the  glory  of  your  Majesty,  and  the  prosperity  of 
your  sacred  person  and  kingdom." 

*' Petition  of  French  Protestants,  July  1683. 
"  To  the  King. 

"  Sir — Your  most  humble  subjects  of  the  Protestant  reli- 
gion, not  having  power  to  resist  the  motions  of  their  con- 
sciences, are  constrained  to  assemble  together,  to  call  upon  the 
holy  name  of  God,  and  sing  his  praises;  and  by  this  religious 
acting  they  expose  themselves  to  all  the  violence  and  rigour 
which  a  too  fierce  zeal  can  infuse  into  the  breasts  of  your 
officers.  And  because  God  hath  established  your  Majesty 
for  their  Monarch,  they  are  obliged  to  justify  their  proceed- 
ings and  behaviour  before  your  Majesty,  with  all  the  humi- 
lity they  are  capable  of. 

"  These  assemblies.  Sir,  do  no  way  hurt  or  wound  that 
fidelity  which  your  petitioners  owe  your  Majesty  ;  they  are 
all  accorded  to  sacrifice  their  fortunes  and  their  lives  for 
your  service.  The  very  same  religion  which  constrains 
them  to  assemble  together  to  celebrate  the  glory  of  God, 
teaches  them  that  they  can  never  dispense,  under  any  pre- 
tence whatever,  with  that  allegiance  which  is  due  to  your 
Majesty.  Nor  has  your  Majesty  any  need  to  publish  your 
declarations  to  enforce  them  to  embrace  a  maxim  so  certain 
and  so  well  grounded  upon  Christianity.  It  remains,  then, 
Sir,  that  your  petitioners  insist  upon  nothing  but  what  is 
only  due  to  God;  for  as  to  what  concerns  your  Majesty, 
their  past  behaviour  gives  testimony  of  the  reality  and  purity 
of  their  intentions,  and  may  serve  as  a  security  to  your  Ma- 
jesty for  the  future;  and  in  a  word,  your  petitioners  are  all 
ready  with  their  blood  to  sign  the  oath  of  their  allegiance. 
As  to  what  concerns  their  duty  towards  God,  your  Majesty 
hath  so  much  piety  to  take  it  not  amiss,  that  they  render  to 
that  great  God  that  worship  and  adoration  which  they  ow^e 
him.  They  also  presume  to  hope  that  your  Majesty  will 
have  the  goodness  to  reflect  upon  their  behaviour,  that  you 
will  compassionate  the  desolations  to  which  their  piety  ex- 
poses them;  and  that  perhaps  you  will  extend  your  indigna- 
tion against  those  who  have  by  surprise  obtained  so  many  se- 
vere decrees  and  declarations  against  them,  and  yet  would 
further  provoke  your  wrath  against  subjects  so  faithful  and 
so  innocent. 


OF    FRANCE.  227 

"  Your  supplicants,  Sir,  are  persuaded  that  God  has  not 
ijent  them  into  this  world,  but  to  glorify  him ;  and  they  will 
rather  choose  to  lose  their  lives  a  thousand  times,  than  fail 
of  their  duty  so  holy  and  indispensable. 

"  It  is  in  your  Majesty's  power  to  deprive  them  of  all  the 
advantages  of  this  world,  and  also  to  doom  to  utter  destruc- 
tion. 

*'  They  are  ready  to  sacrifice  all,  to  suffer  all  miseries,  at 
your  Majesty's  pleasure.  But  it  may  be,  when  your  Majesty 
shall  consider,  that  your  petitioners  do  not  give  way  to  the 
most  faithful  of  all  your  subjects  (which  all  the  world  con- 
fesses) in  their  duties  to  God,  your  Majesty  will  not  do  that 
injury  to  His  glory  and  to  His  goodness,  as  to  destroy  a 
people  for  no  other  reason  meriting  your  indignation. 

"  The  miseries  of  your  petitioners,  Sir,  only  arise  from  the 
reverence  they  have  for  the  Divinity,  whose  Word  they  look 
upon  as  the  only  rule  for  their  religious  worship. 

"  Were  the  dispute  alone  concerning  our  opposing  men 
for  the  service  of  your  Majesty,  though  all  the  world  should 
rebel  against  your  Majesty's  will — though  all  your  subjects 
should  fail  of  their  fidelity  and  obedience — your  petitioners 
would  inviolably  stand  by  their  august  Monarch,  and  with 
pleasure  spend  the  last  drop  of  blood  in  his  service. 

"But  their  unhappiness  is  so  great,  that  the  declarations 
put  forth  against  them  (to  the  prejudice  of  so  many  edicts 
and  decrees  made  by  your  Majesty,  and  the  kings  your  pre- 
decessors) appear  to  them  incompatible  with  the  commands 
of  the  great  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth. 

"  For  God  hath  ordained  them  to  instruct  their  children 
and  their  families,  and  to  declare  unto  them  the  Word  of  Life. 
He  also  pronounces  his  dreadful  anathema  against  them  who 
shut  the  gales  of  heaven  against  those  to  whom  he  freely 
opens  them.  He  commands  them  to  offer  to  Him  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs.  Nevertheless,  Sir,  those  declarations 
that  have  been  surreptitiously  obtained  against  us,  forbid  us 
to  sing  the  Psalms  of  David,  which  do  contain  the  praises  of 
God. 

"  In  short,  Sir,  it  is  the  pleasure  of  God  that  we  should 
assemble  together  in  his  name,  to  render  him  the  solemn 
adoration  and  honour  which  is  due  to  him.  Nevertheless, 
Sir,  those  declarations  which  your  petitioners'  enemies  have 
obtained  against  us  by  repealed  surprises,  forbid  them  to  as- 
semble together  to  render  to  that  great  God  the  service  which 
is  due  to  him. 


228 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


"  During  this  inability  of  your  petitioners  to  reconcile  the 
will  of  God  to  what  is  exacted  from  them,  they  find  them- 
selves constrained  by  their  consciences  to  expose  themselves 
to  all  sorts  of  calamities,  for  the  continuance  of  giving  glory 
to  the  majesty  of  God,  who  will  be  served  according  to  his 
Word. 

"  If  the  doctrine  of  your  petitioners  were  abominable,  if 
their  xvorship  w^ere  scandalous,  if  they  preferred  the  creature 
in  place  of  the  Creator,  there  might  be  some  reason  to  solicit 
your  Majesty  to  refuse  them  protection.  But  all  their  crime 
and  all  the  difTerence  between  theirs  and  the  Catholic  religion 
consists  in  this — 

"  That  they  prefer  the  Word  of  God  before  the  traditions 
of  men,  and  the  true  worship  of  that  great  God  (who  pro- 
tests to  be  jealous  of  his  honour,  and  that  he  will  not  yield 
to  any  other)  before  the  religious  worship  of  the  creature. 

*'  x4.ll  religion.  Sir,  to  speak  properly,  consists  only  in  be- 
lief, in  prayers,  and  in  works ;  and  your  petitioners  believe 
and  hold  the  creed  of  the  holy  apostles,  and  the  Lord's 
Prayer  to  be  the  model  of  those  which  they  present  to  God; 
and  the  commandments  of  ibeir  God  are  the  rule  and  guidance 
of  their  conduct  and  conversation.  They  know,  and  have 
no  need,  according  to  St.  Paul,  of  knov/ing  any  other  but 
only  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified.  They  acknowledge 
God  to  be  the  only  true  God,  and  Him  who  sent  Jesus 
Christ;  for  on  this  belief  it  is  that  our  Lord  hath  founded 
life  eternal. 

"  Their  enemies  make  strange  interpretation  of  their  opin- 
ions and  their  worship.  However,  Sir,  your  petitioners  im- 
plore the  mercy  of  God.  They  trust  in  the  incomprehensible 
charily,  and  infinite  merits  of  their  adorable  Saviour,  whom 
they  do  embrace  with  a  constant  and  lively  faith.  They 
have  recourse,  with  all  humility,  to  the  healthful  succour  and 
grace  of  his  Holy  Spirit;  and  to  this  Trinity  it  is  that  they 
render  their  adoration  and  homage,  invoking  it  after  the  same 
form  that  the  Scripture  hath  prescribed  in  his  Word.  They 
meditate  upon  his  wonders;  they  sing  his  praises;  and  they 
make  it  their  continual  study  to  live  holily  among  themselves, 
justly  toward  their  neighbour,  obediently  toward  your  Ma- 
jesty, and  religiously  towards  God. 

"  They  therefore  supplicate  your  Majesty  to  be  the  judge, 
whether  your  petitioners  are  unworthy  of  your  paternal 
goodness,  and  the  honour  of  your  protection  ;  whether  they 
merit  to  be  thrown  into  the  extremity  of  destruction,  wherein 


OF  FRANCE.  229 

they  are  at  present  overwhelmed,  sufficient  enough  to  move 
the  groans  of  the  most  insensible  ;  and  lastly,  Sir,  whether 
it  be  possible  that  they  should  live  without  continuing  to  as- 
semble together,  to  render  to  God  the  service  which  they 
ow^e  him. 

"After  all  this,  your  petitioners  cannot  but  pray  to  the 
great  God,  who  advances  your  throne  above  all  thrones  of 
the  earth,  to  incline  your  Majesty's  heart  towards  your  sub- 
jects, whose  innocency  and  allegiance  is  apparent  to  the  eyes 
of  thf  whole  world;  and  if  these,  your  poor  people,  shall 
not  yet  be  able  to  move  the  compassion  of  their  august  Mo- 
narch, for  whom  they  shall  always  retain  a  sincere  love  and 
awful  reverence,  a  singular  veneration,  and  inviolable  fidelity, 
they  do  protest  before  the  face  of  that  great  God,  for  whose 
sake  they  are  exposed  to  so  much  misery,  that  they  will 
render  him  honour  and  glory  in  the  midst  of  their  most  ter- 
rible calamities. 

"  But,  Sir,  your  petitioners  hope  much  better  things  from 
the  natural  equity,  goodness,  and  piety  of  your  Majesty; 
for  which  reason  they  prostrate  themselves  at  your  royal  feet, 
and  most  humbly  implore  your  Majesty  to  recall  all  the  de- 
clarations, decrees,  and  other  judgments  which  have  reduced 
them  to  that  deplorable  condition  wherein  they  are,  and  de- 
prive them  not  of  the  liberty  of  their  consciences  and  exer- 
cise of  their  religion,  by  virtue  of  so  many  edicts,  confirmed 
by  so  many  declarations  granted  them  by  your  Majesty; 
without  which  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  live. 

"  And  your  petitioners  shall  continue  to  pray  for  the 
preservation  of  your  Majesty's  sacred  person,  your 
royal  family,  and  the  honour  and  prosperity  of  your 
kingdom." 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 

As  the  direful  day  of  the  public  and  proclaimed  revocation 
of  the  edict  drew  near,  steps  of  oppression  became,  if  pos- 
sible, more  active.  Romish  missionaries,  like  Maynooth 
priests,  full  of  fire  and  fury,  were  sent  forth  over  the  country 
to  stir  up  the  populace  against  the  Protestants;  and  for  a 
higher  class,  books  were  published,  full  of  calumnies  and 
lies,  fabricated  for  the  same  end.  Some  of  the  authors  re- 
ceived twenty  thousand  livres  from  the  king  as  a  reward  for 
their  services  in  this  way.  "  For  a  long  time,"  says  Quick, 
•*  we  have  seen  in  Paris  and  elsewhere,  nothing  but  such 


230  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

sort  of  writings — to  such  a  height  was  passion  come."  The 
ruin  of  the  Protestant  academies  and  colleges  was  reserved 
till  towards  the  last;  but  come  it  did,  and  it  was  complete 
when  it  appeared.  Sedan,  though  specially  protected  by 
edict,  led  the  way. 

"  They  had  been  very  fruitful  nurseries  of  many  excellent 
scholars — furnished  the  churches  with  some  thousands  of 
able,  godly,  and  painful  ministers.  This  was  the  great  eye- 
sore of  the  Jesuits,  and  cause  enough  for  their  bigoted  dis- 
ciples at  court  to  procure  their  ruin.  The  professors  in  these 
academies  were  men  of  most  eminent  learning  and  piety,  ex- 
ceedingly studious,  and  laborious  in  their  calling.  They  read 
four  lectures  every  week  publicly,  besides  the  private  col- 
leges they  had  in  their  own  houses  daily ;  for  a  number  of 
young  students  would  combine  together  to  prosecute  one 
body  of  controversies,  and  the  professor  reads  to  them  at 
home,  and  they  draw  up  their  theses,  and  dispute  upon  it. 
We  have  a  world  of  these  exercises  in  the  foreign  universi- 
ties. Their  professors  exercise  their  scliolars  with  public 
disputations,  and  strictly  examine  their  proficiency  once  a 
quarter.  Their  stipends  were  but  mean — never  amounted 
to  i£70  a  year ;  yet  they  were  generally  men,  as  of  great 
parts,  so  of  great  reputation,  and  highly  esteemed  by  their 
churches,  synods,  and  the  nobility." 

The  universities  were  suppressed,  the  professors  thrown 
into  prison,  detained  there  for  a  great  part  of  a  year,  and 
then  banished,  with  all  the  other  ministers,  in  October,  1685 
— that  is,  immediately  before  the  edict  was  revoked. 

A  most  base  part  of  the  persecution  throughout  was  the 
Jesuitry,  and  air  of  justice  and  kindness  with  which  the 
whole  was  conducted.  At  the  very  time  the  strongest  mea- 
sures were  passing,  yea,  down  to  the  very  hour  of  the  revo- 
cation, there  were  promises  from  the  king  and  his  parly  that 
they  meant  no  harm  to  the  Protestants;  that  the  edict  was  to 
remain  unaltered;  and  many  things  were  done — as  the  dis- 
countenancing of  occasional  violent  proceedings — which  lull- 
ed not  a  kw  Protestants  into  the  impression  that  their  rights, 
though  abridged,  were  not  to  be  recalled.  In  the  same  spirit 
of  attempted  deception,  not  a  few  Popish  writers,  then  and 
since,  have  contended,  that  there  was  no  violence  used  against 
the  Reformed  Churcli  of  France  at  all,  and  that  her  members 
changed  their  religion  of  their  own  free  choice!  'J'his  has 
always  been  part  of  the  sad  policy  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
and  has  added  not  a  httle  to  its  cruelty.     She  has  been  full 


m 


OF    FRANCE.  231 

of  deceit;  but  this  is  what  we  are  taught  from  Scripture  to 
expect.  Antichrist  is  represented  as  having  "  the  eyes  of  a 
man" — sagacity  and  cunning;  to  have  the  appearance  of  a 
lamb,  while  he  acts  the  dragon,  and  to  use  "  all  deceivable- 
ness  of  unrighteousness."  The  Protestants  complained  to 
the  king,  but  complained  in  vain.  Deputy  after  deputy  was 
sent  from  different  provinces ;  but  their  appeals  were  unheed- 
ed. Often  their  persons  were  harshly  used ;  they  were  for- 
bidden to  come  to  court,  or  were  immediately  imprisoned. 
"  The  last  petition  presented  to  the  king  himself  by  the  Lord 
Marquis  of  Bourigny,  the  general  deputy,  in  1684,  was 
couched  in  the  most  submissive  t°rms,  that  would  have  mov- 
ed and  melted  into  pity  the  hardest  heart;  yet  they  got  no- 
thing by  it  but  the  hastening  of  their  ruin  and  destruction." 
And  now  the  awful  day  looked  forward  to,  and  prepared  for 
during  twenty  years,  arrives.  On  Thursday,  the  8th  of  Oc-i 
tober,  1685,  the  fatal  revocation  was  signed,  and  the  doom 
of  the  Protestant  Chui-cK  "sealed.  The  revocation  consists 
of  a  preface  and  twelve  articles :  the  preface,  which  is  meant 
as  an  apology  for  the  measure,  is,  as  might  have  been  ex-  I  >y:^ 
pected,  full  of  notorious  falsehoods.  "  By  the  first  article* 
the  king  suppresses  and  repeals  the  protective  edicts  in  all 
their  extent;  and  ordains  that  all  the  temples  which  are  yet  f^p 
found  standing  in  his  kingdom  shall  be  immediately  demol-  '"^^ 
ished.  By  the  second,  he  forbids  all  sort  of  religious  assem- 
blies of  what  kind  soever.  The  third  prohibits  the  exercises 
of  religion  to  all  lords  and  gentlemen  of  quality,  under  cor- 
poral penalties,  and  confiscation  of  their  estates.  The  fourth 
banishes  from  the  kingdom  all  the  ministers,  and  enjoins 
them  to  depart  thence,  within  fifteen  days  after  the  publica- 
tion of  this  edict,  under  the  penalty  of  being  sent  to  the  gal- 
leys. In  the  fifth  and  sixth,  he  promises  recompenses  and 
advantages  to  the  ministers  and  their  widows  w^ho  shall 
change  their  religion;  and  ordains,  '  That  those  who  shall  be 
born  henceforward  shall  be  baptized  and  brought  up  in  the 
Catholic  religion;  enjoining  parents  to  send  them  to  the 
churches,  under  the  penalty  of  being  fined  five  hundred 
livres.  The  ninth  gives  four  month's  time  to  such  persons 
as  have  departed  already  out  of  the  kingdom,  to  return,  other- 
wise their  goods  and  estates  to  be  confiscated.  Tiie  tenth, 
with  repeated  prohibitions,  forbids  all  his  subjects  of  the 
said  religion  to  depart  out  of  his  realm,  they,  their  wives, 
and  children,  or  to  convey  away  their  effects,  under  pain  of 
the  galleys  for  the  men,  and  of  confiscation  of  money  and 


232 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


goods  for  the  women.  The  eleventh  confirms  the  declara- 
tions heretofore  made  against  those  that  relapse.  The  twelfth 
declares,  that  as  to  the  rest  of  his  subjects  of  the  said  reli- 
gion, they  may,  till  God  enlightens  them,  remain  in  the 
cities  of  his  kingdom,  countries,  and  lands  of  his  obedience, 
there  continue  their  commerce,  and  enjoy  their  estates,  with- 
out trouble  or  molestation  upon  pretence  of  the  said  religion, 
on  condition  that  they  have  no  assemblies  under  pretext  of 
praying,  or  exercising  any  religious  worship  whatever." 

Such  cruel  enactments  as  these  could  not  be  carried  into 
effect  without  much  suffering  and  violence.  Accordingly, 
the  most  atrocious  force  was  called  into  operation,  and  cruel- 
ties inflicted,  which  have  seldom  been  surpassed  in  any  pe- 
riod of  the  history  of  the  world.  This  was  the  more  dis- 
graceful, that  France  was,  at  this  time,  a  leading  power  in 
Europe,  and  boasted  of  an  almost  Augustan  literature.  But 
let  civilization  be  what  it  may,  the  character  of  Popery  is, 
and  must  always  be,  substantially  the  same.  liiterature  is 
no  match  for  it,  as  a  counteractive.  I  have  hesitated  whether 
I  should  shock  the  reader  with  the  following  awful  summary. 
But,  as  many  are  ignorant  of  the  martyrdom  to  which  the 
Church  of  France  submitted,  and  to  the  value  of  Protestant 
privileges,  and  as  the  true  character  of  Popery  can  be  known 
only  from  its  uniform  operation,  where  unrestrained,  so  I 
have  resolved  to  run  the  risk  of  wounding  at  once  the  hu- 
manity and  modesty  of  many  of  my  readers.  Sad  is  it  to 
think  that,  while  such  horrors  were  transacting  in  France, 
our  own  Scotland  was  a  fellow-sufferer  to  a  great  extent,  and 
that  from  the  same  Popish  or  semi-Popish  principles.  First 
of  all,  dragoons  were  sent  forth  and  quartered  upon  the  Pro- 
testants, and  encouraged  to  plunder  them  of  all  that  was  val- 
uable, in  order  to  compel  them  to  become  Roman  Catholics. 

"Afterwards,"  says  Quick,  'Mhey  fell  upon  the  persons 
of  the  Protestants,  and  there  was  no  wickedness,  though  ever 
so  horrid,  which  they  did  not  put  in  practice,  that  they 
might  enforce  them  to  change  their  religion.  Amidst  a  thou- 
sand hideous  cries  and  blasphemies,  they  hung  up  men  and 
women  by  the  hair  or  feet  upon  the  roofs  of  the  chambers, 
or  hooks  of  chimneys,  and  smoked  them  with  wisps  of  wet 
hay  till  they  were  no  longer  able  to  bear  it;  and  when  they 
had  taken  them  down,  if  they  would  not  sign  an  abjuration 
of  their  pretended  heresies,  they  then  trussed  them  up  again 
immediately.  Some  they  threw  into  great  fires,  kindled  on 
purpose,  and  would  not  take   them  out  till   they  were   half 


OF    FRAJVCE.  233 

roasted.  They  tied  ropes  under  their  arms,  and  plunged 
them  to  and  again  into  deep  wells,  from  whence  they  would 
not  draw  them  till  they  had  promised  to  change  their  religion. 
They  bound  them  as  criminals  are  when  they  are  put  to  the 
rack,  and  in  that  posture,  putting  a  funnel  into  their  mouths, 
they  poured  wine  down  their  throats  till  its  fumes  had  de- 
prived them  of  their  reason,  and  they  had  in  that  condition 
made  them  consent  to  become  Catholics.  Some  they  strip- 
ped stark  naked,  and  after  they  had  offered  them  a  thousand 
indignities,  they  stuck  them  with  pins  from  head  to  foot; 
they  cut  them  with  penknives,  tore  them  by  the  noses  with 
red-hot  pincers,  and  dragged  them  about  the  rooms  till  they 
promised  to  become  Roman  Catholics,  or  that  the  doleful 
cries  of  these  poor  tormented  creatures,  calling  upon  God 
for  mercy,  constrained  them  to  let  them  go.  They  beat 
them  with  staves,  and  dragged  them  all  bruised  to  the  Po- 
pish churches,  where  their  enforced  presence  is  reputed  for 
an  abjuration.  They  kept  them  waking  seven  or  eight  days 
together,  relieving  one  another  by  turns,  that  they  might  not 
get  a  wink  of  sleep  or  rest.  In  case  they  began  to  nod,  they 
throw  buckets  of  water  in  their  faces,  or  holding  kettles  over 
their  heads,  they,  beat  on  them  with  such  a  continual  noise, 
that  those  poor  wretches  lost  their  senses.  If  they  found  any 
sick,  who  kept  their  beds,  men  or  women,  be  it  of  fevers  or 
other  diseases,  they  were  so  cruel  as  to  beat  up  an  alarm  with 
twelve  drums  about  their  beds  for  a  whole  week  together, 
without  intermission,  till  they  had  promised  to  change.  In 
some  places  they  tied  fathers  and  husbands  to  the  bedposts, 
and  ravished  their  wives  and  daughters  before  their  eyes. 
And  in  another  place  rapes  were  publicly  and  generally  per- 
mitted for  many  hours  together.  From  others  they  pluck 
off  the  nails  of  their  hands  and  toes,  which  must  needs  cause 
an  intolerable  pain.  They  burnt  the  feet  of  others.  They 
blew  up  men  and  women  with  bellows,  till  they  were  ready 
to  burst  in  pieces.  If  these  horrid  usages  could  not  prevail 
upon  them  to  violate  their  consciences  and  abandon  their  re- 
ligion, they  did  then  imprison  them  in  close  and  noisome 
dungeons,  in  which  they  exercised  all  kind  of  inhumanities 
upon  them.  They  demolish  their  houses,  desolate  their 
hereditary  lands,  cut  down  their  woods,  seize  upon  their 
wives  and  children,  and  mew  them  up  in  monasteries.  When 
the  soldiers  had  devoured  all  the  goods  of  a  house,  then  the 
farmers  and  tenants  of  these  poor  persecuted  wretches  must 


234  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

supply  them  with  new  fuels  for  their  lusts,  and  bring  in  more 
substance  to  them  ;  and  that  they  might  be  reimbursed,  they 
did,  by  authority  of  justice,  sell  unto  them  the  fee-simple 
estate  of  their  landlords,  and  put  them  into  possession  of  it. 
If  any,  to  secure  their  consciences,  and  to  escape  the  tyranny 
of  those  enraged  cannibals,  endeavoured  to  flee  away,  they 
Avere  pursued  and  hunted  in  the  fields  and  woods,  and  shot 
at  as  so  many  wild  beasts.  The  provosts  and  their  archers 
course  it  up  and  down  the  highways  after  these  poor  fugi- 
tives ;  and  magistrates  in  all  places  have  strict  orders  to  stop 
and  detain  them  without  exception;  and  being  taken,  they 
are  brought  back,  like  prisoners  of  war,  unto  those  places 
from  whence  they  fled." 

At  the  hazard  of  wearying  the  reader  with  details  of  Po- 
pish cruelty,  I  must  add  some  information  to  that  already 
communicated.  Laval,  in  one  of  the  volumes  of  his  pro- 
tracted history  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  France,  has  an 
appendix  extending  to  one  hundred  pages,  in  M'hich  he  des- 
cribes the  seven  different  ways  in  which  Louis  endeavoured 
"  to  force  the  Reformed  in  his  dominions  to  renounce  their 
religion: — by  the  dragonade — the  prisons — the  galleys — 
transportation — divers  kind  of  death — and  the  dragging  of  the 
corpses  after  death."  The  French  are  an  ingenious  people. 
They  seem  to  have  been  ingenious  in  cruelty.  Almost  every 
day  they  had  a  new  invention — inventions  which  transcend- 
ed all  that  were  known  to  the  most  tyrannical  heathen  op- 
pressors. What  Moses  said  of  the  Romans,  as  God's  ap- 
pointed messengers  of  judgment  against  the  perverse  and 
rebellious  Jews,  might  be  transferred  with  all  propriety  to  the 
French  dragoons: — They  were  "swift  as  the  eagle  flieth — a 
nation  of  fierce  countenance,  who  shall  not  regard  the  honour 
of  the  old,  nor  show  favour  to  the  young — who  shall  eat  the 
fruit  of  thy  catUe,  and  the  fruit  of  thy  land,  until  thou  be  des- 
troyed— who  also  shall  not  leave  thee  either  corn,  wine,  or 
oil,  or  the  increases  of  thy  kine,  or  flocks  of  thy  sheep,  until 
they  have  destroyed  thee."  The  soldiers  seemed  to  receive 
general  orders  to  weary  and  torment,  as  well  as  impoverish. 
They  prevented  their  victims,  by  perpetual  noise,  from 
sleeping — burnt  their  limbs  before  tiie  fire — violated  female 
modesty — tortured  mothers  with  unavailing  and  unrelieved 
cries  of  their  children,  till  not  a  few  females  died  from  mental 
agony.  When  even  the  soldiers  grew  tired  of  their  horrible 
oppressions,  and  were  disposed  to  relax,  the  Popish  priest 


OF   FRANCE.  235 

Stirred  them  up  anew,  and  took  pains  to  excite  near  relations 
to  bear  a  part  in  the  persecution — a  plain  proof  that  it  was 
religious — not  political. 

If  men  were  released  from  the  dragonade,  it  was  generally- 
only  to  be  plunged  into  the  dungeon;  and  if  the  philanthropy 
of  Howard  made  such  awful  disclosures  of  the  state  of  the 
prisons  of  Europe  in  his  day,  where  no  particular  suffering 
was  intended,  what  must  have  been  the  wretchedness  of  such 
places  of  confinement  a  century  earlier,  where  they  were  meant 
to  be  instruments  of  suffering,  as  well  as  detention.  Unlike 
even  the  prisons  of  heathenism,  in  which  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians were  immured,  those  of  Popish  France  permitted  no  sing- 
ing of  psalms — no  visits  of  pastors.  The  saints  were  shut  up 
with  lewd  and  blasphemous  felons,  whose  society  and  language 
were  worse  than  death — fed  on  the  worst  fare— subjected  to 
a  thousand  indignities — continually  removed  from  prison  to 
prison,  sometimes  as  many  as  eleven  times  in  succession, 
that  they  might  not  by  their  meekness  and  patience  soften 
their  jailer,  and  so  lighten  their  torment.  Amid  the  places 
of  confinement,  there  were  some  of  such  pre-eminent  cruelty, 
such  as  the  prison  of  Valance,  under  a  fiend  of  the  name  of 
Heraphine — as  to  be  altogether  indescribable. 

The  galleys,  something  like  the  British  hulks  for  convicts, 
formed  another  mode  of  oppression.  There,  a  vast  body  of 
Protestants,  some  of  them,  such  as  Marrolles  and  Le  Febvre, 
of  the  highest  station  and  talent,  were  confined — wretchedly 
fed  91  disgusting  fare — and  wrought  in  chains  for  many 
years.  The  prisoners  often  died  under  their  sufferings. 
When  they  did  not  acquit  themselves  to  the  mind  of  their 
taskmasters,  or  disregarded  any  of  their  persecuting  enact- 
ments, they  were  subjected  to  the  lash.  Fi^ty  or  sixty 
lashes  were  considered  a  severe  enough  punishment  for  the 
criminals  of  France — men  who  were  notorious  for  every 
species  of  profligacy ;  but  nothing  less  than  one  hundred  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty  would  suffice  for  the  meek  and  holy 
saints  of  God.  They  were  considered  a  thousand  times 
worse  than  the  worst  criminals. 

Transportation  to  foreign  lands  was  a  form  of  punishment 
which  had  been  long  disused,  but  the  French  Papists  revived 
it.  When  navigation  was  very  imperfect,  multitudes  were 
put  on  board  vessels  wliich  were  no  more  than  sea-worthy, 
and  committed  to  tempestuous  seas.  Sometimes  aged  wo- 
men of  eighty  years  were  included  in  the  number.  Of  three 
thousand  persons  thus  shipped  to  the  West  Indies  in  a  few 


236 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


vessels,  but  two  hundred  escaped  shipwreck — it  is  to  be  fear- 
ed vohmtarily  induced  by  their  persecutors.  As  usual,  they 
were  forbidden,  under  sentence  of  death,  to  cheer  their  hearts 
by  the  singing  of  psahns.  Such  exercises  seem  to  have 
been  regarded  as  intolerable — very  gall  and  wormwood — by 
their  oppressors. . 

Death,  which  often  would  have  been  desired  by  the  vic- 
tims as  a  relief,  was  occasionally  inflicted  as  a  punishment 
for  non-conformiiy.  Many  individuals,  from  twelve  and 
twenty-four,  up  to  sixty  and  seventy  years  of  age,  were  sepa- 
rately destroyed  in  the  most  dreadful  forms.  In  a  few  years, 
we  read  of  thirty  in  two  southern  provinces.  And  then 
there  was  slaughter  upon  a  larger  scale.  Troops,  at  one 
stage  of  the  persecution,  received  a  general  order  to  fire  upon 
all  assemblies  of  the  Reformed  for  public  worship.  In  this 
way,  it  is  estimated  that  eight  thousand  persons,  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years,  lost  their  lives.  All  of  them  might  have 
been  spared,  had  they  only  been  willing  to  renounce  the 
Protestant  faith  ;  but  they  would  not  listen  to  apostasy.  If 
possible,  the  most  revolting  species  of  punisiiment  was  the 
last,  viz.,  the  indignities  offered  to  the  dead.  It  seems  scarce- 
ly credible,  but  it  is  true,  that  a  nation  boasting  of  refine- 
ment raised  the  dead  from  the  tomb,  and  put  the  corpse 
through  a  mock  trial,  and  sentenced  it  accordingly — hanging 
and  mutilating  the  mortal  remains  of  the  faithful  followers  of 
the  Lamb. 

Many,  when  they  read  of  these  barbarities,  whether  in 
France  or  Britain,  are  ready  to  conclude  they  were  inflicted 
on  a  few  poor,  perverse,  ignorant  fanatics.  This  would  be 
no  apology  for  the  cruelty,  even  were  it  well-founded.  But 
it  is  not  so.  •  In  Scotland,  many  of  the  sufferers  belonged  to 
the  first  families  in  the  country,  and  many  more  were  well 
educated,  superior  men;  and  in  France,  noblemen  and  gen- 
tlemen of  the  first  consideration,  scholars,  military  ofi[icers, 
aged  ladies  of  high  families,  were  among  the  victims.  In- 
deed, no  respect  was  shown  to  station  or  sex.  Directly  and 
indirectly  there  was  a  great  loss  of  human  life.  Multitudes 
of  the  old  and  young  must  have  died  from  the  effects  of  the 
persecution  to  which  they  were  subjected.  But  persecution 
to  the  shedding  of  blood  does  not  seem  to  have  been  the  po- 
licy of  the  Church  of  Rome  on  this  occasion.  It  had  been 
tried  in  the  bloody  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  a  century 
before,  and  its  success  had  not  been  such  as  to  encourage  a 
repetition.     The  general  plan  seems  to  have  been  to  wear 


OF    FRANCE.  237 

out  the  saints  of  God  with  something  short  of  actual  blood- 
shed; and  certainly  this  scheme,  as  the  event  proved,  is  less 
likely  to  provoke  a  reaction.  Still,  there  was  enough  of  the 
most  brutal  cruelty,  as  we  have  seen,  reaching  even  unto  death, 
to  proclaim  the  old  and  established  character  of  the  Church 
of  Rome.  M.  Homel,  a  venerable  minister  of  sixty-five 
years  of  age,  of  unblameable  life,  for  simply  exhorting  his 
brethren  to  preach  the  Gospel  on  the  ruins  of  their  churches, 
while  they  continued  their  allegiance  to  their  earthly  sove- 
reign in  all  civil  matters,  was  broken  on  the  wheel.  Fifty 
or  sixty  Protestants,  for  taking  up  arms  in  self-defence,  and 
breaking  through  a  force  of  six  thousand  dragoons,  were 
burnt  alive.  One  would  rather  have  thought  that  their  va- 
lour should  have  drawn  forth  general  admiration.  Two  cases 
of  savage  cruelty  I  subjoin: 

"  Monsieur  Bayley,  minister  of  Carla,  in  the  county  of 
Foix,  and  who  was,  in  June  1685,  seized  upon  by  the  pro- 
vost of  Montauban,  and  thrown  into  a  dungeon  in  the  Casde 
of  Trumpet  at  Bordeaux,  not  one  of  his  friends  or  relations 
being  ever  permitted  to  visit  him,  or  to  know  the  cause  of  his 
imprisonment,  died  the  12lh  of  November  following,  but 
with  that  constancy  as  became  a  martyr  of  Jesus  Christ, 
praising  and  blessing  God  for  his  sufferings.  These  suffer- 
ings of  his  had  been  very  great  and  exceedingly  grievous.  He 
lay  a  long  while  together  sick,  without  any  relief  or  assist- 
ance; yea,  they  were  so  barbarously  cruel  to  him,  as  to  deny 
him  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  quench  his  burning  thirst,  his 
merciless  guards  treating  him  in  his  very  malady  with  all 
manner  of  barbarities,  that  by  those  torments  he  might  be 
enforced  to  apostatize  from  the  truth;  but  this  excellent  man 
of  God  held  steadfasdy  to  the  last,  and,  by  his  faith  and  pa- 
tience, conquered  the  cruelties  of  his  tormentors,  and  died 
triumphantly.  He  was  a  person  of  great  worth  and  learn- 
ing, all  which  was  communicated  by  him  to  the  edification 
of  his  flock.  His  brother,  one  of  the  rarest  scholars  of  this 
age,  is  that  famous  author  of  the  Republiqiie  des  Lettres. 

"An  eminent  French  minister  gave  the  writer  hereof  this 
relation — that,  January  23,  1685,  a  woman  had  her  sucking 
child  snatched  from  her  breasts,  and  put  into  the  next  room, 
which  was  only  parted  by  a  few  boards  from  hers.  These 
devils  incarnate  would  not  let  the  poor  mother  come  to  her 
child,  unless  she  would  renounce  her  religion  and  become  a 
Roman  Catholic.  Her  child  cries  and  she  cries ;  her  bowels 
yearn  upon  the  poor  miserable  infant;  but  the  fear  of  God, 


238  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

and  of  hell,  and  losing  her  soul,  keep  her  from  apostasy. 
However,  she  suffers  a  double  martyrdom,  one  in  her  own 
person,  the  other  in  that  of  her  sweet  babe,  who  dies  in  her 
hearing  with  crying  and  famine  before  its  poor  mother/' 

It  is  worthy  of  record,  that  whatever  policy  may  have 
dictated  as  to  the  way  of  extinguishing  the  Reformed  in 
France,  the  miserable  king  was  himself  prepared  for  a  second 
St.  Bartholomew  massacre.  If  we  may  credit  the  biographer 
of  the  profligate  Jesuit,  La  Chaise,  who  was  his  counsellor, 
he  had  consented  to  this  horrible  step,  and  had  signed  the 
necessary  orders  for  a  certain  day  in  1684.    But  this  having 
been  whispered  to  the  Prince  of  Conde,  he  hurried  to  the 
presence  of  the  monarch,  and  by  entreaty  and  remonstrance, 
prevailed  on  him  to  recall  the  bloody  preparations.     The 
spirit  which  the  king  and  his  advisers  betrayed  towards  the 
poor  Protestants  would  amply  warrant  us  in  crediting  the 
statement.     And  what  a  view  does  this  give  us  of  the  Court 
of  France  at  the  conclusion  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
of  the  unchanged  spirit  of  Popery  through  a  hundred  years. 
As  I  was  able  to  refer  to  the  testimony  of  a  Briton,  a  non- 
conformist minister,  to  the  sufferings  of  the  Protestants  of 
France  immediately  before  the  Revocation,  I  am  happy  to 
have  it  in  my  power  to  refer  to  the  testimony  of  another 
countryman — a  bishop  of  the  Church  of  England,  Dr.  Bur- 
net— for  a  similar  testimony  to  the  state  of  things  immediate- 
ly after  that  dread  event.     Writing  from  Zurich,  in  Septem- 
ber 1685,  the  month  before  the  actual  and  formal  Revocation, 
he  says,  "  As  I  came,  all  the  way  from  Paris  to  Lyons,  I 
was  amazed  to  see  so  much  misery  as  appeared,  not  only  in 
villages,  but  in  big  towns,  where  all  the  marks  of  an  extreme 
poverty  showed  themselves  both  in  the  buildings,  the  clothes, 
arid  almost  in  the  looks  of  the  inhabitants ;  and  a  general  dis- 
peopling in  all  the  towns  was  a  very  visible  effect  of  the  hard- 
ships under  which  they  lay."     What  these  hardships  were, 
though  Burnet  does  not  here  state,  we  can  be  at  no  loss  to 
know.  The  persecution  of  so  large  a  body  of  the  most  active 
and  enterprising  inhabitants  as  the  Protestants  were,  is  the 
grand  explanation.     As  a  matter  of  mere  political  economy, 
no  step  could  indicate  greater  madness.  Eight  months  after  the 
Revocation,  the  bishop,  writing  from  Nimmegen,  says,  *' I 
have  a  strong  inclination  to  say  somewhat  concerning  the  per- 
secution (viz.  in  France)  which  I  saw  in  its  rage  and  utmost 
fury,  and  of  which  I  could  give  you  many  instances,  that 
are  so  much  beyond  all  the  common  measures  of  barbarity 


OF   FRANCE.  239 

and  cruelty,  that  I  confess  they  ought  not  to  be  believed 
unless  I  could  give  more  positive  proofs  of  them  than  are 
fitted  now  to  be  brought  forth ;  and  the  particulars  that 
I  co^kl  tell  you  are  such,  that  if  I  should  relate  them, 
with  the  necessary  circumstances  of  time,  place,  and  per- 
sons, these  might  be  so  fatal  to  many  that  are  yet  in  the 
power  of  their  enemies,  that  my  regard  to  them  restrains  me. 
In  short,  I  do  not  think  that  in  any  age  there  ever  was  such 
a  violation  of  all  that  is  sacred,  either  with  relation  to  God  or 
man.  And  what  I  saw  and  knew  there  from  the  first  hand, 
hath  so  confirmed  all  the  ideas  that  I  had  taken  from  books  of 
the  cruelty  of  that  religion,  that  I  hope  the  impression  that 
this  hath  made  upon  me  shall  never  end  but  with  my  life. 
The  applauses  that  the  whole  clergy  give  to  this  way  of  pro- 
ceeding, the  many  panegyrics  that  are  already  writ  upon  it, 
of  which,  besides  the  more  pompous  ones  which  appear  at 
Paris,  there  are  numbers  writ  by  smaller  authors  in  every 
town  of  any  note,  there;  and  the  sermons,  that  are  all  flights 
of  flattery  upon  this  subject,  are  such  evident  demonstrations 
of  their  sense  of  this  matter,  that  what  is  now  on  foot  may 
be  well  termed — the  acts  of  the  whole  clergy  of  France, 
which  yet  hath  hitherto  been  esteemed  the  most  moderate 
part  of  the  Roman  communion.  If  any  are  more  moderate 
than  others,  and  have  not  so  far  laid  off"  the  human  nature  as 
to  go  entirely  into  those  bloody  practices,  yet  they  dare  not 
own  it,  but  whisper  it  in  secret  as  if  it  were  half  treason ; 
but,  for  the  greater  part,  they  not  only  magnify  all  that  is 
done,  but  they  animate  the  dragoons  even  to  higher  degrees 
of  rage ;  and  there  was  such  a  heat  spread  over  all  the  coun- 
try on  this  occasion,  that  one  could  not  go  into  an  ordinary, 
or  mix  in  any  promiscuous  conversation,  without  finding 
such  eff'ects  of  it,  that  it  w^as  not  easy  for  any  one  who  were 
touched  with  the  least  degree  of  compassion  for  the  miseries 
that  the  poor  Protestants  suffered,  to  be  witness  to  the  insult- 
ings  that  they  must  meet  with  in  all  places."  Such  is  Bishop 
Burnet's  testimony,  as  furnished  in  his  Letters.  Tliat  re- 
corded in  the  History  of  his  own  Times  is  not  less  striking. 
He  seem.s  to  be  of  opinion  that  the  declarations  in  behalf  of 
Popery,  by  the  British  king,  at  this  time  (James  II.)  had  an 
important  influence  in  hastening  on  the  persecution  in  France. 
It  was  an  assurance  to  the  persecutor  that  he  should  not  be 
disturbed  in  his  deeds  of  plunder  and  violence.  Had  Britain 
remained  Protestant  in  her  government,  France  might  have 
been  afraid  to  venture  on  her  Popish  deeds :  so  important  is 


\> 


240  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

it  that  states  should  recognise,  and,  by  all  legitimate  means, 
defend  the  truth  of  God.  How  great  ihe  contrast  between 
Britain  under  Cromwell,  redressing  the  wrongs  of  the  per- 
secuted Protestants  of  Piedmont,  and  Britain  under  James  II., 
by  tame  indilference,  if  not  by  active  zeal,  encouragin'g  the 
persecution  of  their  still  nearer  brethren,  the  Protestants  of 
France!  Various  passages  could  be  quoted  from  Burnet. 
We  limit  ourselves  to  the  followhig,  which  seems  the  most 
important.     After  telling  the  reader  how  he  had  been  led  to 

r visit  France,  he  says — "Men  and  women  of  all  ages  who 
would  not  yield,  were  not  only  stript  of  all  they  had,  but 
kept  long  from  sleep,  drawn  about  from  place  to  place,  and 
;  hunted  out  of  their  retirements.  The  women  were  carried 
i  into  nunneries,  in  many  of  which  they  were  almost  starved, 
/  whipped,  and  barbarously  treated.  Some  few  of  the  bishops 
and  of  the  secular  clergy,  to  make  the  matter  easier  to  some, 
\  drew  formularies,  importing  that  they  were  resolved  to  re- 
j  unite  themselves  to  the  Church,  and  that  they  renounced  the 
\  error  of  Luther  and  Calvin.  People  in  such  extremities  are 
easy  to  put  a  stretched  sense  on  any  words  that  may  give 
them  present  relief.  So  it  was  said.  What  harm  was  it  to 
promise  to  be  united  to  the  Catholic  Church,  and  the  renoun- 
cing of  wliose  eiTors  did  not  renounce  their  good  and  sound 
doctrine?  But  it  was  very  visible  with  what  intent  those  sub- 
scriptions or  promises  were  asked  of  them.  So  their  com- 
pliance in  that  matter  w^as  a  plain  equivocation.  But  how 
weak  and  faulty  soever  they  might  be  in  this,  it  must  be 
acknowledged  here  was  one  of  the  most  violent  persecutions 
that  is  to  be  found  in  history.  In  many  respects  it  exceeded 
them  all,  both  in  the  several  inventions  of  cruelty,  and  in  its 
long  continuance.  I  went  over  a  great  part  of  France  while 
it  was  in  its  hottest  rage — from  Marseilles  to  Montpellier, 
and  from  thence  to  Lyons,  and  so  to  Geneva.  I  saw  and 
knew  so  many  instances  of  their  injustice  and  violence,  that 
it  exceeded  even  what  could  have  been  well  imagined,  for 
all  men  set  their  thoughts  on  work  to  invent  new  methods  of 
cruehy.  In  all  the  towns  through  which  I  passed  1  heard 
the  most  dismal  accounts  of  things  possible;  but  chiefly  at 
Valence,  where  one  D'lierapine  seemed  even  to  exceed  the 
furies  of  inquisitors.  One  in  the  streets  could  have  known 
the  new  converts  (the  Protestants)  as  they  were  passing  by 
them,  by  a  cloudy  dejection  that  appeared  in  tlieir  looks  and 
deportment.  Such  as  edeavoured  to  make  their  escape,  and 
were  seized  (for  guards  and  secret  agents  were  spread  along 


OP    FRANCE.  241 

the  whole  roads  and  frontiers  of  France,)  were,  if  men,  con- 
demned to  the  galleys,  and  if  women,  to  monasteries.  To 
complete  this  cruelty,  orders  were  given  that  such  of  the  new 
converts  as  did  not  at  their  death  receive  the  sacrament  should 
be  denied  burial,  and  that  their  bodies  should  be  left  where 
other  dead  carcasses  were  cast  out  to  be  devoured  by  wolves 
and  dogs.  This  was  executed  in  several  places  with  the 
utmost  barbarity ;  and  it  gave  all  people  so  much  horror, 
that  seeing  the  ill  effect  of  it,  it  was  let  fall.  This  hurt  none, 
but  struck  all  that  saw  it  even  with  more  horror  than  those 
sufferings  which  were  more  felt.  The  fury  that  appeared 
on  this  occasion  did  spread  itself  with  a  sort  of  contagion; 
for  the  intendants  and  other  officers  that  had  been  mild  and 
gentle  in  the  former  periods  of  their  life,  seemed  now  to 
have  laid  aside  the  compassion  of  Christians,  the  breeding 
of  gentlemen,  and  the  common  impressions  of  humanity. 
The  greatest  part  of  the  clergy,  the  regulars  especially,  were 
so  transported  with  the  zeal  that  their  king  showed  on  this 
occasion,  that  their  sermons  were  full  of  the  most  inflamed 
eloquence  that  they  could  invent— magnifying  their  king  in 
strains  too  indecent  and  blasphemous  to  be  mentioned  by 
me."* 

Such  is  the  dread  picture  of  Popish  cruelty  inflicted  on  the 
Protestant  Church  of  France;  and  what  shall  we  say  of  it? 
The  heart  sickens  at  the  contemplation.  Human  language 
cannot  describe  it.  It  is  only  the  Spirit  of  God  who  can 
mark  the  terrible  lineaments,  and  he  does  so  when  he 
speaks  of  "wearing  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,"  and 
of  Antichrist  being  "drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints," 
and  of  their  blood  crying  from  under  the  altar,  "O  Lord, 
holy  and  true,  how  loiig  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our 
blood  upon  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth;"  and  when  he 
speaks  of  similar  worthies  as  persons  "  who  were  stoned, 
were  sawn  asunder,  were  tempted,  were  slain  with  the 
sword:  they  wandered  about  in  sheep  skins  and  goat-skins; 
being  destitute,  afliicted,  tormented  (of  whom  the  world  was 
not  worthy:)  they  wandered  in  deserts  and  in  mountains, 
and  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth."  In  some  respects  the 
persecution  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  was  more 
atrocious  than  that  of  any  similar  persecution.  The  author i 
of  a  rare  and  interesting  pamphlet,  published  in  London  injjrfi 
1686,  justly  says, —  |{.^ 

»Vol.  iii.,p.  1127. 
16 


242  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

"The  Egyptians  and  Assyrians  once  persecuted  the  Israel- 
ites, but  they  forced  them  not  to  embrace  the  worship  of  their 
idols ;  they  contented  themselves  with  making  them  slaves 
without  doing  violence  to  their  consciences.  The  Heathens 
and  the  Jews  persecuted  the  primitive  Christians,  forced 
their  consciences  indeed,  but  they  had  never  granted  them 
an  edict,  nor,  by  persecuting  them,  did  violate  the  public 
faith,  nor  hindered  them  to  make  their  escape  by  flight. 
The  Arians  cruelly  persecuted  the  orthodox,  but  besides  that, 
they  went  not  so  far  as  to  make  the  common  sort  of  people 
sign  formal  abjurations;  there  was  no  edict  or  concordat 
between  the  two  communions.  Innocent  III.,  by  his  cru- 
sades, persecuted  tlie  Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  but  these 
people  also  had  no  edict.  Emmanuel,  king  of  Portugal, 
furiously  persecuted  the  Jews,  but  he  gave  them  leave  to  de- 
part out  of  his  kingdom,  and  they  had  no  edict.  It  was  the 
same  with  those  remains  of  the  Moors  who  had  settled  them- 
selves in  some  cantons  of  the  kingdom  of  Grenada — they 
were  defeated  in  a  war,  and  commanded  to  retire  into  the 
country  from  whence  their  ancestors  came.  In  the  last  age 
the  Duke  of  Alva  exercised  dreadful  cruelties  upon  the  Pro- 
testants of  the  Seventeen  Provinces,  but  he  did  not  hinder 
them  from  flying,  nor  violated  any  edict;  and,  at  the  worst, 
death  was  their  release.  The  Inquisition  is  to  this  day  in 
Spain  and  Italy,  but  they  are  countries  in  which  no  religion, 
besides  the  Roman,  was  ever  permitted  by  edicts;  and  if  the 
inquisitors  may  be  accused  of  violence  and  cruelly,  yet  they 
cannot  be  convicted  of  perfidiousness." 

And  yet  the  Pope,  Innocent  XL,  the  professed  vicar  of 
Christ  upon  earth,  and  jiead  of  the  Christian  Church,  re- 
joiced in  the  plunder,  exile,  and  blood  of  the  poor  French 
Protestants.  He  writes  a  special  letter  to  Louis  upon  the 
occasion,  which  he  requests  him  lo  consider  as  a  remarkable 
and  lasting  testimony  to  his  merits;  and  concludes  by  say- 
ing, "  The  Catholic  Church  shall  most  assuredly  record  in 
her  sacred  annals  a  work  of  such  devotion  towards  her,  and 
celebrate  your  name  with  never-dying  praises;  but,  above 
all,  you  may  most  assuredly  promise  to  yourself  an  ample 
retribution  from  the  Divine  goodness  for  this  most  excellent 
undertaking,  and  may  rest  assured  that  we  shall  never  cease 
to  pour  forth  our  most  earnest  prayers  to  that  Divine  good- 
ness for  this  intent  and  purpose."  The  king  had  not  less 
than  three  medals  struck  with  different  devices,  but  all  de- 
claring that  the  French  Church  was  destroyed.     In  this,  as 


OF    FRANCE.  243 

the  event  showed,  he  was  mistaken.     The  circumstance, 
however,  indicates  the  nature  of  his  spirit. 

We  have  listened  to  the  testimony  of  an  eye  and  ear  wit- 
ness, and  that  none  less  than  the  calm  and  learned  Gilbert 
Burnet.  There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  extent  and  atro- 
city of  the  persecution.  But  the  reader  may  wish  to  know 
somewhat  of  the  Christian  spirit  with  which  it  was  borne. 
Though  this  might  almost  be  taken  for  granted,  yet  I  am 
happy  in  being  able  to  appeal  to  the  letters  of  M.  Le  Febvre, 
whose  name  has  been  already  mentioned.  He  was  arrested 
in  1686,  was  condemned  to  the  galleys,  and  was  confined 
fifteen  years  in  a  solitary  dungeon,  where  he  died  in  1702. 
His  life  was  written  by  a  French  pastor  at  the  time.  I  avail 
myself  of  a  new  translation  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pearson,  of 
Tunbridge  Wells,  entitled  "  The  Faith  and  Patience  of  the 
Saints,"  which  I  strongly  recommend  to  the  attention  of  the 
reader.  Tlie  spirit  of  the  sufferer  and  his  friends  is  emi- 
nently Christian,  and  shows  how  clear  were  the  Gospel 
views  from  which  they  drew  their  hope.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  their  temper  was  the  prevailing  one  of  the  afiiict- 
ed  Protestants.  I  make  the  following  quotations  respecting 
Le  Febvre  and  a  few  fellow-snfierers. 

Le  Febvre  says — "  Nothing  can  exceed  the  cruelty  of  the 
treatment  I  receive.  The  weaker  I  become,  the  more  they 
endeavour  to  aggravate  the  miseries  of  the  prison.  For 
several  weeks  no  one  has  been  allowed  to  enter  my  dungeon; 
and  if  one  spot  could  be  found  where  the  air  was  more  in- 
fected than  another,  I  was  placed  there.  Yet  the  love  of  the 
truth  prevails  in  my  soul;  for  God,  who  knows  my  heart, 
and  the  purity  of  my  motives,  supports  me  by  bis  grace. 
He  fights  against  me,  but  he  also  fights  for  me.  My  wea- 
pons are  tears  and  prayers.  My  faith  is  weak,  and  I  am  a 
great  sinner;  but  the  God  of  all  goodness,  the  refuge  of  the 
afflicted,  the  only  hope  of  the  wretched,  who  does  not  quench 
the  smoking  flax,  nor  break  the  bruised  reed,  will  have  pity 
upon  me,  and  on  the  extreme  weakness  of  my  faith.  He 
will  not  sufller  me  to  be  put  to  confusion,  because  I  hope  in 
his  promise,  that  with  the  temptation,  lie  will  make  a  way 
to  escape.  I  will  not  let  him  go  until  he  bless  me."  "  Re- 
lapse has  followed  relapse,"  he  tells  us,  "  and  I  have  been- 
at  the  point  of  death.  The  physician  of  the  hospital  has 
taken  ^reat  care  of  me;  and  he  was  astonished  to  find  that  I 
uttered  no  complaint  nor  murmur  in  the  midst  of  pain.  I 
have  been  unable  to  walk  these  two  days,  and  my  strength 


244 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


is  excessively  wasted  ;  but  you  must  not  conclude  that  we 
are  in  so  miserable  a  condition  as  the  world  naturally  think, 
and  that  we  are  so  much  to  be  pitied;  for  the  testimony  of  a 
good  conscience  is  alone  sufficient  to  make  us  happy;  and 
having  this,  nothing  can  deprive  us  of  our  joy  in  the  midst 
of  sufferings  and  extreme  pain;  for  the  Divine  Comforter, 
who  cheers  our  hearts  under  every  trial,  comes  to  our  relief, 
though  sometimes  he  stands  aloof,  because  we  are  of  little 
faith;  but  God,  who  knows  our  sincerity,  pities  our  weak- 
ness, preserves  us,  and  holds  us  by  the  hand.  Death,  then, 
is  not  to  us  a  king  of  terrors;  for  we  are  assured  by  Him 
who  has  loved  us,  that  we  shall  obtain  mercy  and  die  the 
death  of  the  righteous.  What  an  advantage!  What  conso- 
lation! What  solid  happiness  !"  His  description  of  the  dun- 
geon is: — *'  It  is  a  vault  of  an  irregular  form,  and  was  for- 
merly a  stable;  but  being  very  damp,  it  was  found  injurious 
to  horses.  The  rack  and  manger  are  here  still.  There  is 
no  way  of  admitting  light  but  by  an  opening  with  a  double 
grating,  in  the  upper  part  of  the  door.  Opposite  the  opening, 
there  are  iron  bars  fastened  at  their  upper  ends  into  the  wall. 
The  place  is  very  dark  and  damp.  'I'he  air  is  noisome,  and 
has  a  bad  smell.  Every  thing  rots  and  becomes  mouldy. 
The  wells  and  cisterns  are  above  me.  I  have  never  seen  a 
fire  here,  except  the  tlame  of  the  candle."  "  You  will  feel 
for  me  in  this  misery,"  said  he  to  a  dear  relative,  to  whom 
he  was  describing  his  sad  condition :  ''but  think  of  the  eter- 
nal weight  of  glory  which  will  follow.  Death  is  nothing. 
Christ  has  vanquished  the  foe  for  me;  and  when  the  fit  time 
shall  arrive,  the  Lord  will  give  me  strength  to  tear  off  the 
mask  which  that  last  enemy  wears  in  great  afflictions.  '  Ma- 
jor est  metus  vitae,  quam  mortis.'  The  fear  of  living  long 
is  greater  than  that  of  dying  soon ;  yet  it  is  more  expedient 
to  endure  life  than  to  desire  death."  "  Far  be  it  from  me  to 
murmur.  J  pray  without  ceasing,  that  he  would  show  pity, 
not  only  to  those  who  suffer,  but  also  to  those  who  are  the 
cause  of  our  sufferings.  He  who  commanded  us  to  love  our 
enemies,  produces  in  our  hearts  the  love  he  has  commanded. 
The  world  has  long  regarded  us  as  tottering  w^alls;  but  they 
do  not  see  the  Almighty  hand  by  which  we  are  upheld." 

Regarding  MaroUes,  a  man  of  science,  we  have  the  fol- 
lowing notices: — "  Mons.  de  Marolles  would  say  to  his 
friend,  '  You  express  my  opinion,  my  dear  brother,  when 
you  say  that  we  alone  shall  be  the  persons  whom  the  king 
will  not  allow  to  feel  the  effects  of  his  clemency.     We  are 


OP    FRANCE.  245 

brought  upon  the  stage  in  order  to  strike  terror  into  the  whole 
kingdom;  and  upon  us  must  fall  that  vengeance  which  the 
king  denounces  upon  those  who  do  not  acquiesce  and  sub- 
mit to  his  command.  But  if  we  have  had  the  misfortune  to 
disobey  our  great  monarch,  let  this  be  our  comfort,  that  we 
did  so  from  the  indispensable  necessity  to  which  we  were 
reduced.  We  have  preferred  the  obedience  which  we  owe 
to  the  divine,  to  that  which  we  owe  to  human  majesty. 
This  is  the  laudable  crime  for  which  we  suffer.  Let  us  fix 
our  eyes  upon  the  glorious  recompense  which  God  reserves 
for  us  in  heaven,  for  that  very  crime  which  the  god  of  this 
world  will  never  forgive  us.  Let  us  wait  the  Avill  of  the 
Lord,  and  be  ever  faithful  to  him.'  "  "  When  I  was  taken 
out  of  the  galley  and  brought  hither,  I  found  the  change 
very  agreeable  at  first.  My  ears  were  no  longer  offended 
with  the  horrid  and  blasphemous  sounds  with  which  those 
places  continually  echo.  I  had  liberty  to  sing  the  praises  of 
God  at  all  times,  and  could  prostrate  myself  before  him  as 
often  as  I  pleased.  Besides,  I  was  released  from  that  uneasy 
chain,  which  was  far  more  troublesome  to  me  than  the  one 
of  thirty  pounds  weight  which  you  saw  me  wear.  But  the 
Lord,  who  was  pleased  to  make  me  experience  his  succour 
in  a  surprising  manner,  suffered  me  to  fall  into  a  terrible 
trial.  The  solitude  and  perpetual  darkness  in  which  I  spent 
my  days,  presented  my  narrow  mind  with  such  frightful  and 
terrifying  ideas,  that  they  made  a  very  fatal  impression  upon 
me.  My  imagination  was  filled  with  a  thousand  false  and 
vain  things,  which  frequently  carried  it  away  into  delirium 
and  idle  phantoms,  which  lasted  sometimes  two  whole  hours. 
My  prayers  were  no  remedy  against  this  calamity.  God 
was  pleased  to  continue  it  several  months,  and  I  was  plunged 
into  a  profound  abyss  of  affliction ;  for,  when  I  considered 
this  melancholy  condition,  in  connection  with  my  want  of 
sleep,  I  concluded  that  I  was  fast  proceeding  to  a  state  of  in- 
sanity, and  that  1  should  never  escape  falling  into  it.  I  in- 
cessantly implored  the  help  of  my  God.  I  begged  that  he 
would  never  suffer  my  enemies  to  triumph  over  me,  nor  let 
my  sufferings  end  in  so  sorrowful  a  manner.  At  length,  after 
many  prayers,  sighs,  and  tears,  the  God  of  my  deliverance 
heard  my  petitions,  commanded  a  perfect  calm,  and  dissi- 
pated all  those  illusions  which  had  so  troubled  my  soul. 
After  the  Lord  has  delivered  me  out  of  so  sore  a  trial,  never 
have  any  doubt,  my  dear  wife,  that  he  will  deliver  me  out 
of  all  others.     Do  not  therefore,  disquiet  yourself  any  more 


246  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

about  me.  Hope  always  in  the  goodness  of  God,  and  your 
hope  shall  not  be  in  vain.  I  ought  not,  in  my  opinion,  to 
pass  by  unnoticed  a  considerable  circumstance  which  tends 
to  the  glory  of  God.  The  duration  of  so  great  a  temptation 
was,  in  my  opinion,  the  proper  time  for  the  Old  Serpent  to 
endeavour  to  cast  me  into  rebellion  and  infidelity ;  but  God 
always  kept  him  in  so  profound  a  silence,  that  he  never  once 
offered  to  infest  me  with  any  of  his  pernicious  counsels; 
and  I  never  felt  the  least  inclination  to  revolt.  Ever  since 
those  sorrowful  days,  God  has  continually  filled  my  heart 
with  joy.  I  possess  my  soul  in  patience.  He  makes  the 
days  of  my  affliction  speedily  pass  away.  I  have  no  sooner 
begun  them  than  I  find  myself  at  the  end.  With  the  bread 
and  water  of  affliction,  he  affords  me  continually  most  deli- 
cious repasts."  This  was  his  last  letter.  He  resigned  his 
spirit  into  the  hands  of  his  Father  on  the  17th  June,  1692. 

Respecting  another  sufferer,  Pierre  Mauru,  we  give  the 
subjoined  extracts:  "You  ask  me  to  tell  you  how  many 
blows  of  the  cudgel  and  the  hoop  I  have  received,  but  that 
IS  out  of  my  power.  Sometimes  I  have  had  forty  or  more 
at  a  time;  and  these  have  been  repeated  eight  or  ten  days  in 
succession.  I  have  seldom  had  less  than  twenty  at  a  lime. 
But  I  must  tell  you,  that  though  these  stripes  are  painful,  the 
joy  of  suffering  for  Christ  gives  ease  to  every  wound;  and 
when,  after  we  have  suffered  for  him,  the  consolations  of 
Christ  abound  in  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Comforter:  they 
are  a  heavenly  balm,  which  heals  all  our  sorrows,  and  even 
imparts  such  perfect  health  to  our  souls,  that  we  can  despise 
every  other  thing.  In  short,  when  we  belong  to  God,  nothing 
can  pluck  us  out  of  his  hand."  "  If  my  body  was  tortured 
during  the  day,  my  soul  rejoiced  exceedingly  in  God  my 
Saviour,  both  day  and  night.  At  this  period  especially,  my 
soul  was  fed  with  hidden  manna,  and  I  tasted  of  that  joy 
which  the  world  knows  not  of;  and  daily,  with  the  holy 
apostles,  my  heart  leaped  with  joy  that  I  was  counted  worthy 
to  suffer  for  my  Saviour's  sake,  who  poured  such  consola- 
tions into  my  soul  that  I  was  filled  with  holy  transport,  and, 
as  it  were,  carried  out  of  myself.  But  this  season  of  quiet 
was  of  short  duration;  for  soon  afterwards  the  galley  was 
furnished  M'ith  oars  to  exercise  the  new-comers  ;  and  then 
these  inexorable  haters  of  our  blessed  religion  took  the  op- 
portunity to  beat  me  as  often  as  they  pleased,  telling  me  it 
was  in  my  power  to  avoid  these  torments.  But  when  they 
held  this  language,  my  Saviour  revealed  to  my  soul  the  ago- 


OF    FRA^XE.  247 

nies  he  suffered  to  purchase  my  salvation,  and  that  it  became 
me  thus  to  suffer  with  him.  After  tliis,  we  were  ordered  to 
sea,  when  the  excessive  toil  of  rowing,  and  the  Wows  I  re- 
ceived, often  brought  me  to  tlie  brink  of  the  grave.  When- 
ever the  chaplain  saw  me  sinking  with  fatigue,  he  beset  me 
with  temptations;  but  my  soul  was  bound  for  the  heavenly 
shore,  and  he  gained  nothing  from  my  answers."  "  In  every 
voyage  there  were  many  persons  whose  greatest  amusement 
was  to  see  me  incessandy  beaten,  but  particularly  the  cap- 
tain's steward,  who  called  it  painting  Calvin'' s  back,  and  in- 
sultingly asked  if  Calvin  gave  me  strength  to  work  after 
being  so  finely  bruised ;  and  when  he  wished  the  beating  to 
be  repeated,  he  would  ask  if  Calvin  was  not  to  have  his  por- 
tion again.  When  he  saw  me  sinking  from  day  to  day  un- 
der cruellies  and  fatigue,  his  happiness  was  complete.  The 
officers,  who  were  anxious  to  please  him,  had  recourse  to 
this  inhuman  sport  for  his  entertainment,  during  which  he 
was  constantly  convulsed  with  laughter.  When  he  saw  me 
raise  my  eyes  to  heaven,  he  said,  '  God  does  not  hear  Cal- 
vinists  when  they  pray.  They  must  endure  their  tortures 
till  they  die,  or  change  their  religion.'  In  short,  my  very 
dear  brother,  there  was  not  a  single  day,  when  we  were  at 
sea,  and  toiling  at  the  oar,  but  I  was  brought  into  a  dying 
state.  The  poor  wretched  creatures  who  were  near  me  did 
every  thing  in  their  power  to  help  me,  and  to  make  me  take 
a  litde  nourishment.  But  in  the  depth  of  distress,  which 
nature  could  hardly  endure,  my  God  left  me  not  without  sup- 
port. In  a  short  time  all  will  be  over,  and  I  shall  forget  all 
my  sorrows  in  the  joy  of  being  ever  with  the  Lord.  Indeed, 
whenever  I  was  left  in  peace  a  little  while,  and  was  able  to 
meditate  on  the  words  of  eternal  life,  I  was  perfectly  happy; 
and  when  I  looked  at  my  wounded  body,  I  said,  here  are  the 
glorious  marks  which  St.  Paul  rejoiced  to  ber.r  in  his  body. 
After  every  voyage  I  fell  sick;  and  then,  being  free  from 
hard  labour  and  the  fear  of  blows,  I  could  meditate  in  quiet, 
and  render  thanks  to  God  for  sustaining  me  by  his  goodness, 
and  strengthening  me  by  his  good  Spirit." 

The  following  testimony  is  borne  by  a  humble  shepherd: 
"  Amongst  others,  Mons.  Le  Febvre  mentions  a  shepherd, 
who  was  removed  from  the  galley  to  Fort  St.  Nicholas,  and 
from  thence  to  a  deep  dungeon  in  the  Chateau  d'If.  This 
dungeon  is  a  place  into  which  they  descend  by  ladders,  and 
is  lighted  only  by  a  lamp,  for  which  the  jailer  makes  the 


248  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

prisoners  pay.  At  first,  he  was  left  to  lie  on  the  ground,  or 
rather  mire,  almost  without  clothing.  A  monk  who  went 
clown  into  it  to  visit  the  unhappy  beings  who  are  kept  there, 
could  not  help  declaring  that  the  horrors  of  the  place  made 
him  shudder;  that  he  had  not  nerve  enough  to  go  again; 
that  the  deplorable  condition  of  the  poor  creatures  drew  tears 
from  his  eyes ;  and  that  he  saw  one  of  them  who  was  become 
the  prey  of  worms  even  before  his  death.  In  such  a  place 
as  this,  the  unlettered  but  gracious  shepherd  wrote  several 
notes  to  his  dear  brethren  in  the  galleys.  The  following  was 
addressed  to  Mons.  Fortunat :  "  Though  I  have  not  the  honour, 
Sir,  to  be  personally  acquainted  with  you,  yet  knowing  by 
sad  experience,  that  your  love  and  zeal  extend  to  the  meanest 
of  the  flock  of  Christ,  I  have  reason  to  hope  you  will  kindly 
permit  me  to  leave  this  gloomy  prison  to-day,  at  least  in  my 
affections,  to  offer  you  my  most  respectful  regards  in  the 
chains  you  bear  for  Christ,  and  to  thank  you,  with  heartfelt 
sincerity,  for  all  your  kindness  to  me,  but  above  all  for  the 
prayers  you  offer  in  my  behalf.  I  entreat  you,  dear  suff'er- 
ing  servant  of  the  living  God,  to  pray  that  he  will  have  pity 
on  such  a  poor,  weak,  fainting  creature  as  I  am;  that  he  will 
give  me  humility  of  soul  to  abase  myself  as  I  ought  to; 
that  he  will  so  penetrate  my  heart  with  his  infinite  love,  that 
he  may  become  the  only  object  of  my  love  unto  my  life's 
end.  Beseech  him  to  give  me  that  entire  conformity  which 
I  ought  to  have,  to  the  will  of  his  dear  Son,  who  came  into 
the  world  to  save  sinners,  to  teach  us  by  his  word,  and  to 
guide  us  by  his  example.  Pray  that  I  may  neither  speak 
nor  act  but  for  the  glory  of  his  name,  the  edification  of  those 
around  me,  and  the  advancement  of  my  own  salvation.  If 
you  grant  me  this  favour  (which  your  Christian  love  will  not 
deny,)  I  assure  you  I  shall  be  grateful  for  it  as  long  as  I 
live.  I  send  you  a  letter  which  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
address  to  Mons.  Du  Bessonere,  and  other  friends  in  ...  . 
AVith  prayers  that  the  Lord  may  shortly  deliver  you  from 
the  cruelty  of  our  unjust  oppressors,  and  again  permit  you 
to  sing  the  songs  of  our  Zion  in  his  holy  temple — I  am,  dear 
Sir,  and  illustrious  sufferer  for  Christ's  sake,  with  all  the  re- 
spect I  owe  you,  and  which  it  is  possible  to  feel.       V — ." 

The  last  quotation  respects  Serre,  who  writes  in  the  fol- 
lowing strain: — "To  those  dear  faithful  followers  of  Christ 
who  are  not  ashamed  of  my  chain — grace,  peace,  and  love 
from  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  multiplied  unto  the  end.     Be- 


OP    FRANCE.  249 

loved  brethren  and  sisters  in  Jesus  Christ,  I  write  with  my 
hands  in  manacles,  and  the  marks  of  my  blessed  Saviour 
ploughed  as  deep  furrows  in  my  body  .  .  .  .  C,  and 
another,  who  were  stretched  on  the  gun  before  me,  having 
yielded  after  three  or  four  blows,  the  major  addressed  some 
senseless  observations  to  me,  to  which  I  replied  briefly,  but 
with  composure,  'Execute  your  orders.'  My  resolution 
exasperated  him,  and  I  was  therefore  lashed  with  all  the 
violence  that  could  be  put  forth,  till  I  was  ready  to  expire. 
He  then  ordered  a  cessation,  in  the  hope  that  I  should  com- 
ply; but  finding  me  still  firm  in  my  resolution,  he  became 
furious.  My  steadfastness  encouraged  all  the  others.  But 
what  do  I  say  ? — it  was  the  power  of  divine  grace.  What 
thanks  do  I  owe  to  God  for  the  inestimable  favour  he  has 
granted  me  of  suffering  for  his  name's  sake!  Praise  him  with 
me  all  ye  people  of  the  Lord.  But  above  all,  I  beseech 
every  faithful  soul,  beloved  of  the  Lord,  to  implore  for  me 
supporting  grace,  that  I  may  persevere  to  the  end;  without 
which  all  will  have  been  suffered  in  vain,  and  I  sludl  be 
overwhelmed  with  everlasting  confusion.  While  the  major 
was  cruelly  torturing  our  brethren,  and  my  hands  were  being 
manacled  hy  his  orders,  there  arrived  a  messenger  from  the 
intendant,  named  Regis,  who  whispered  to  the  major,  and 
showed  him  a  memorial.  The  major  then  called  for  me, 
and  in  a  threatening  tone  said,  '  This  is  Mons.  Serre.  Well, 
I  have  just  given  him  a  sound  bastinado;  but  this  evening  I 
will  tear  the  flesh  from  his  bones.'  Thus,  my  dear  friends, 
I  expect  death.  Happy  if  I  die  faithful.  They  seem  to  be 
more  bitterly  enraged  against  me  than  against  all  my  com- 
panions together.  It  is  said,  that  this  evening  or  to-morrow 
I  am  to  be  conveyed  to  the  Chateau  d'lf,  after  1  have  been 
again  put  to  the  torture.  I  have  done  what  I  could  for  my 
dear  brethren  at  the  peril  of  my  life,  both  in  the  prisons  and 
here  also.  I  have  exhorted  them,  and  set  them  an  example. 
May  the  Lord  in  his  mercy  grant  that  I  may  not  dishonour 
his  name.  Implore  the  help  of  God,  for  Jesus  Christ  his 
Son's  sake,  that  I  may  come  off  victorious.  Let  your  hands 
be  lifted  up  in  prayer,  and  let  them  not  fall  till  I  have  gained 
the  victory.  Follow  me  with  your  prayers  to  my  dungeon, 
if  I  go  there.  I  shall  not  forget  you,  and  shall  ever  bear  in 
remembrance  your  love  and  tenderness.  May  God  grant 
you  an  abundant  recompense  in  this  life,  and  eternal  felicity 
in  that  which  is  to  come.  I  love  and  honour  you  most  af- 
fectionately, and  am,  and  shall  ever  be,  most  entirely  yours, 


250  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

dear  brethren  and  sisters  in  Christ  Jesus,  your  very  humble 
and  very  obedient  servant — Serre." 

The  reader  will  now  be  able  to  appreciate  the  value  of  those 
conversions  to  the  Romish  Church,  which  her  partisans  boast 
of  having  taken  place  at  this  period.  The  Bishop  of  Valence 
tells  his  majesty  of  the  "infinite  number  of  conversions" 
which  are  made  to  the  Roman  Church ;  and  has  the  impudence 
to  add,  "much  less  by  the  force  of  your  edicts,  as  by  the  ex- 
ample of  your  exemplary  piety;" — a  monarch  who  was  no- 
torious for  his  proflii^acy!  In  the  "Life  of  Bossuet,"  by  the 
late  Mr.  Charles  Butler,  it  is  stated,  on  the  authority  of  M.  Do 
Bourigny,  that  in  1685,  more  than  nine  hundred  Hugonots, 
within  the  diocese  of  Meaux,  embraced  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion,  through  the  exertions  of  Bossuet.  Not  to  question, 
which  I  might  jusdy  do,  any  statement  founded  on  the  word  of 
a  man  convicted  of  so  many  gross  frauds  and  falsehoods  as  the 
Bishop  of  Meaux,*  there  can  be  litde  doubt  that  there  were 
not  a  few  miserable  Protestants  who  conformed  to  the  Church 
of  Rome.  But  what  led  to  this?  Was  it  conviction?  No. 
It  was  twenty  years  of  unrelenting  persecution.  Men  who 
found  peace  or  wealth  better  than  principle,  gave  way;  but 
were  these  creditable  converts?  Besides,  the  converts  were 
bribed,  and  those  who  bribed  them  had  strong  temptations  to 
do  so.  "  Mr.  Pelison,"  says  the  author  of  the  pamphlet  to 
which  I  have  already  referred,  "  has  for  a  long  time  been  the 
great  dealer  of  Paris  in  this  infamous  trade  of  purchasing 
converts.  These  conversions  have  of  late  been  the  only 
ways  of  gaining  applause  and  recompenses  at  court,  and,  in 
a  word,  of  raising  one's  fortune."  Pelison's  charge  was 
two  thousand  crowns  for  seven  hundred  converts!  When 
there  was,  from  the  force  of  persecution,  so  powerful  a  temp- 
tation to  Romish  conformity  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  the 
force  of  worldly  honour  and  avarice,  so  strong  a  reason  for 
attempting  to  make  nominal  conversions  on  the  other,  is  it 
wonderful  Uiat  some  fell  a  prey  ?  The  wonder  is  that  these 
were  not  tenfold  more  numerous.  Multitudes  of  the  conver- 
sions were  imaginary;  mere  false  lists  of  names  got  up  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  money.  Persons  were  paid  for  as 
converts  who  had  no  existence.  It  was  Bosquet's  scheme 
for  vindicating  die  revocation  of  the  edict,  to  show  that  all 
the  Protestants  had  become  Roman  CaUiolics,  and  therefore 
that  the  edict  was  unnecessary — practically  annulled.    Hence 

»  Vide  Rev.  Mr.  Cunningham's  Edition  of  Doctrines  and  Practices 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  p.  23. 


OF    FRANCE.  251 

the  multitude  of  pretended  conversions — the  more  of  them 
the  less  use  was  there  fur  the  edict!* 

In  closing  this  Chapter,  I  must  advert  to  a  species  of  op- 
pression to  which  I  have  not  yet  referred — I  mean  the  des- 
truction of  the  religious  books  and  writings  of  the  French 
Protestants.  This  may  seem  small,  compared  with  the  per- 
sonal cruellies  to  which  they  were  subjected;  but  it  was 
serious,  both  as  regarded  the  present,  and  especially  the 
future  character  and  power  of  the  Church.  The  Protestants 
were  an  educated  people;  many  of  their  ministers  highly 
distinguished.  Their  enemies  knew  this,  and  dreaded  the 
effect  of  their  writings  in  preserving  alive  and  reviving  their 
sentiments  even  after  they  themselves  had  been  exiled.  Ac- 
cordingly, no  small  portion  of  the  fury  which  was  directed 
against  the  pastors,  was  directed  also  against  the  standards, 

*  Bishop  Gibson,  in  one  of  his  Tracts  on  Popery,  speaking  of  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  says  : — "  There  seems  to  be  a 
kind  of  conspiracy  among  the  French  clergy  to  deny  this  persecu- 
tion, or  at  least  to  represent  it  as  neither  so  violent  nor  universal  as 
indeed  it  was;  to  vi'hich  purpose  it  is  affirmed,  in  a  discourse  said  to 
be  written  by  order  of  the  clergy,  under  this  title,  '  A  Letter  from  a 
Churchman  to  his  Friend,'  that  there  were  not  forty  churches  of  Pro- 
testants demolished  in  the  ten  years  preceding  1682;  when  it  is  no- 
toriously known,  tliat  in  the  province  of  Poitou  alone  nearly  that 
number  were  pulled  down  ;  and  the  agent  of  the  clergy  had,  the  May 
before,  said,  at  the  opening  of  the  Assembly,  that  the  king  had  demol- 
ished an  injinite  number  of  them ^ 

Jurieu,  one  of  the  French  Protestant  ministers  at  Rotterdam,  in  his 
book  on  The  Accomplishment  of  the  Scripture  Prophecies,  p.  20,  ex- 
claims still  more  forcibly — "  But  to  what  a  pitch  of  impudence  must 
they  be  arrived,  who  print  and  publish  that  no  violence  at  all  hath 
been  employed  to  make  these  conversions.  All  France  abounds  with 
strangers  who  are  witnesses  of  it.  The  ministers  of  Princes  of  Eu- 
rope  behold  it.  Foreign  merchants  see  and  know  it.  An  hundred 
thousand  witnesses,  who  have  escaped  out  of  the  hand  of  these  execu- 
tioners, carry  tidings  of  it  to  all  the  ends  of  the  earth;  and  yet  there 
are  some  who  have  the  confidence  to  deny  a  matter  of  fact  that  was 
done  in  the  sight  of  all  Europe.  We  read  the  arrests— we  see  the 
ordinances  of  the  intcndants — we  see  woods  cut  down,  and  houses 
razed — we  behold  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  prisoners  in  all  the 
prisons  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  yet  they  tell  us  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
persecution!  There  is  one  thing  which  is  very  singular  in  this  per- 
secution, and  which  hath  no  example.  I  could  not  read,  without  trem- 
bling, what  M.  De  Brueys  saith  in  his  last  piece — 'that  the  success 
of  the  method  employed  for  the  conversion  of  the  Reformed,  make  it 
evident  that  they  were  altogether  disposed  to  receive  the  Catholic 
truth.'  I  know  not  what  those  dispositions  were  as  to  himself;  but  I 
question  not,  by  the  same  means  to  make  him  turn  Turk,  and  after- 
wards heathen,  in  a  very  little  time." 


252 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


records,  and  books  of  the  Church.  Hence  Ihe  difficulty 
with  which  Quick  had  to  contend  in  collecting  the  Acts  of 
the  Synods,  though  writing  shortly  after  the  Revocation,  and 
introduced  to  the  acquaintance  of  several  hundred  French 
ministers.  The  very  private  papers  and  books  of  the  banish- 
ed pastors  were  all  destroyed.  Indeed,  these  were  the  first 
things  which  the  persecutors  seized.  Julian,  the  apostate, 
attempted  to  arrest  Christianity  in  a  similar  way,  by  the  des- 
truction of  the  sacred  writings;  and,  comparatively  speaking, 
the  small  number  of  French  Protestant  works  which  have 
survived,  and  the  dead  and  ruined  state  of  the  Church  since 
their  destruction,  are  sad  proofs,  in  this  respect,  of  the  wis- 
dom and  success  of  the  eflbrts  of  Antichrist. 

Nor  must  I  forget  to  notice  the  persecution  of  the  district 
of  Orange,  a  district  on  the  borders  of  France,  but  not  be- 
longing to  it  any  more  than  to  Great  Britain,  as  an  illustra? 
tion  of  the  wanton  and  reckless  extension  of  the  cruelties  of 
Louis.  One  might  have  thought  that  he  had  succeeded  in 
stirring  up  a  sufficient  share  of  oppression  at  home,  and 
might  have  been  contented  with  this.  But  no.  He  bears  a 
deadly  hatred  to  the  name  of  Orange — to  all  that  reminds 
him  of  the  Protestant  Prince  who  has  been  his  most  formi- 
dable antagonist  in  aspiring  after  a  universal  sovereignty, 
particularly  of  what  pertains  to  his  territory  and  dominion. 
Accordingly,  in  spite  of  protest  and  remonstrance,  he  over- 
runs Orange  as  if  it  were  part  of  France,  and  there  inflicts 
similar  atrocities  to  those  w^hich  will  make  his  name  odious 
in  his  own  country  to  the  latest  posterity.  A  memorable 
instance  of  Popish  treachery,  under  the  semblance  of  mercy, 
is  supplied  in  the  fact,  that  the  people  were  allowed  to  sell 
their  possessions  and  to  remove;  but  Popery,  in  the  mean- 
time, took  care  to  pronounce  it  "a  mortal  sin"  for  any  to 
buy,  and  so  encourage  heretics  to  withdraw,  and  live  and  die 
in  heresy  !  The  consequence  was,  that  the  poor  people  con- 
tinued to  be  the  prey  of  their  enemies.  The  case  of  an  aged 
minister,  M.  Chambrun,  is  affecting.  It  reminds  one  of 
Cranmer,  the  English  reformer  and  martyr.  The  minister 
of  Orange  was  universally  beloved.  When  carried  off  to  a 
dungeon,  on  a  litter,  for  his  nonconformity,  even  the  Roman 
Catholics,  nay,  the  very  dragoons  who  were  employed  in 
the  service,  were  affected.  The  people  along  the  roads 
through  which  he  passed  were  moved  to  tears.  In  a  pa- 
roxysm of  pain  he  was  heard  to  say — "I  will  reunite  my- 
self."    This  was  greedily   caught  up   as   confession ;    and 


OF    FRANCE.  253 

though  he  would  not  repeat  the  words,  nor  fulfil  the  promise 
which  they  seemed  to  convey,  he  was  declared  to  be  a  con- 
formist, and  his  influential  example  was  immediately  pressed 
with  energy  upon  his  flock.  When  he  came  to  himself, 
after  uttering  the  fatal  words,  he  fell  into  the  greatest  mental 
agony,  and  "the  pains  of  the  body  were  nothing  in  compa- 
rison of  the  troubles  of  his  soul." — Such  is  the  power  of 
guilt.  Wherever  his  voice  could  be  heard,  or  letters  reach, 
he  confessed  the  greatness  of  his  sin  before  friends  and  ene- 
mies, in  public  and  in  private — aggravating  every  circum- 
stance, even  the  least.  Though  such  cases  are,  in  one  sense, 
less  creditable  than  those  where  the  fortitude  is  unbroken 
throughout,  yet  they  ought  not  to  be  thought  of  liglidy. 
They,  in  another  view,  better  show  forth  the  depth  and  se- 
verity of  the  endurances  which  are  submitted  to  for  Christ, 
a  depth  and  severity  which,  but  for  momentary  failure,  could 
not  have  been  known.  Who  can  doubt  that  Cranmer  and 
Chambrun  had  really  as  much  of  the  spirit  of  martyrs  as 
multitudes  who  seem  to  have  been  insensible  to  pain,  and 
who  never  knew^  what  it  was  to  shrink? 

Of  Chambrun,  it  is  said  by  Laval — "  He  was  received  at 
Geneva  as  he  so  justly  deserved.  He  insisted  to  acknow- 
ledge his  fault  publicly,  in  order  to  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's 
Siipper,  which  was  done  as  he  desired.  At  his  most  earnest 
instance  he  was  likewise  restored  to  his  ministerial  functions 
by  an  assembly  of  eighteen  refugee  ministers,  though  they 
represented  to  him  that,  never  having  signed  any  abjuration, 
or  done  any  action  that  might  prejudice  his  character,  such 
a  ceremony  was  superfluous;  but  his  humility  and  repent- 
ance were  such  that  he  could  not  rest  satisfied  without  it."* 

Long  as  I  have  detained  the  reader  with  the  perfidious 
atrocities  of  the  Popish  persecution  of  the  French  Protest- 
ants at  the  period  of  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
and  varied  and  indubitable  the  sources  from  which  1  have 
drawn  the  bloody  evidences,  I  have  not  by  any  means  ex- 
hausted the  proof.  It  could  be  greatly  enlarged ;  but  this 
is  not  necessary.  At  the  same  time,  it  would  be  improper 
altogether  to  pass  over  the  testimony  furnished  by  the  writ- 
ings of  so  distinguished  a  Protestant  minister  as  Jurieu. 
After  he  had  been  compelled  to  flee  for  safety  to  Holland, 
he  published  a  series  of  letters  amounting  to  twenty-four  in 
number,   to  his  brethren  who  remained  in  France :  these 

*  Vol.  iv.,  p.  34. 


254  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

consist  of  a  very  lively  and  thorough  exposure  of  the  lead- 
ing errors  and  corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  In  the 
course  of  them  there  are  incidental  but  striking  pictures  of 
the  miseries  endured  by  the  French  Protestants,  resting  on 
unexceptionable  testimony,  and  descriptive  of  the  prevailing 
state  of  things  two  years  after  the  Revocation ;  in  other 
words,  in  the  years  1686  and  1687.  The  work  from  which 
I  quote,  and  I  quote  from  it  tlie  more  largely  that  it  is  little 
known,  and  not  very  accessible  to  the  general  reader,  is  en- 
tided  ;  "  The  Pastoral  Letters  of  tlie  incomparable  Jurieu, 
directed  to  the  Protestants  in  France,  groaning  under  the 
Babylonish  tyranny,  translated  :  wherein  the  sophistical  ar- 
guments and  inexpressible  cruelties  made  use  of  by  the 
Papists  for  the  making  converts,  are  laid  open  and  exposed 
to  just  abhorrence;  to  which  is  added  a  brief  account  of  the 
Hungarian  Persecution.  London,  1689."  We  had  occa- 
sion to  notice  the  similarity  in  the  modes  of  persecution  be- 
tween the  Church  of  France  and  the  persecution  of  the 
Church  of  Scodand ;  at  the  same  time,  they  seem  to  have 
had  a  mutual  understanding,  at  least  they  were  under  the 
guidance  of  the  same  Satanic  spirit.  There  is  a  similar  and 
a  beautiful  correspondence  in  tlie  conduct  of  the  persecuted 
in  the  two  countries  :  I  do  not  here  allude  to  their  patience 
and  resignation,  so  much  at  one  with  the  holy  spirit  of  Christ, 
but  to  the  assemblies,  or  conventicles,  as  they  are  called  in 
Scotland,  which  they  held  for  public  worship,  in  the  open 
air  and  in  inaccessible  retreats,  when  deprived  of  their  pas- 
tors and  churches,  and  forbidden  to  convene  for  the  exercises 
of  religious  worship.  'I'he  faithful  Protestants  of  France 
hallowed  many  desert  and  mountainous  spots  with  similar 
devotions. 

*'  Learn  the  conduct  of  our  poor  brethren,  the  inhabitants 
of  Cevennes.  The  Edict  of  Nantes  was  made  void  the  year 
past,  on  the  month  of  October;  the  pastors  were  chased 
away,  and  all  exercise  of  religion  forbidden  upon  great  pe- 
nalties expressed  by  the  declaration.  But  these  inhabitants 
of  the  mountains  began  their  private  assemblies  from  the 
month  of  November  following.  And  God  raised  up  from 
among  them  persons  that,  without  study,  and  without  learn- 
ing, put  themselves  at  the  head  of  these  assemblies  for  their 
edification.  I  will  not  tell  you  their  names,  lest  I  should 
put  them  in  hazard  and  danger. 

*'  There  was  a  private  person  of  the  place  called  V , 

to  whose  word  God  gave  so  much  efficacy,  that  after  some 


OP    FRANCE.  255 

assemblies  where  there  were  but  a  few  persons,  one  night  he 
had  the  pleas^ure  of  comforting  many  hundreds.  And  these 
assembhes  continuing  ahnost  every  day,  one  day,  a  little  be- 
fore night,  there  were  found  more  than  eight  hundred  persons 
upon  the  mountain  of  Brion,  near  to  Caderles.  They  had 
there  the  consolation  of  hearing  two  excellent  prayers  and 
one  sermon ;  after  all,  those  that  had  the  courage  to  resist 
temptation,  did  partake  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Supper  of 
our  Lord. 

"  Many  of  those  which  had  fallen,  with  a  great  many 
fears,  desired  the  communion.  Among  others,  a  woman  of 
quality  was  very  desirious  thereof,  weeping,  and  professing 
that  she  would  never  go  to  mass;  but  it  was  refused  her, 
until  they  should  receive  greater  marks  of  the  sincerity  of 
her  return  and  repentance.  A  few  days  after  there  was  an- 
other assembly  in  a  desert,  under  the  covert  of  a  barn,  in 
the  parish  of  St.  Martin  de  Carcones,  where  there  were  full 
out  sixteen  hundred  persons.  It  was  in  the  night,  and  con- 
tinued until  two  hours  before  day.  Two  days  after  there 
was  another  assembly  in  the  parish  of  St.  John  de  Gaido- 
ningue,  where  there  were  seven  hundred  or  eight  hundred 
persons.  The  day  after,  on  the  Lord's  day,  in  the  parish  of 
St.  Cross  de  Caderles,  there  was  another,  where  there  were 
about  fourteen  hundred  persons  from  all  the  neighbouring 
villages.  They  had  knowledge  of  this  Assembly.  The  in- 
tendant  and  judges  sent  an  advocate,  named  Joly,  to  inform 
them  concerning  it.  All  their  diligence  went  no  further  than 
to  discover  three  or  four  persons — there  was  so  much  fidelity 
among  those  that  made  up  these  assemblies." 

Though  the  meetings  were  often  interrupted,  the  people 
were  not  discouraged,  but  in  a  few  days  assembled  in  large 
numbers.  Jurieu  relates  that  in  a  meadow  of  another  parish 
of  the  same  district,  where  they  had  been  disturbed,  they 
immediately  after  convened  to  the  number  of  two  thousand, 
and  when  the  alarm  of  dragoons  was  given,  and  he  who  act- 
ed the  part  of  the  pastor,  exclaimed,  "  Let  those  who  are 
afraid  depart,"  not  one  stirred — all  prepared  themselves  for 
martyrdom.  Li  the  midst  of  winter — in  spite  of  the  rigour 
of  the  season — the  precipices  on  the  way — the  darkness  of 
night — the  Protestants  did  not  fail  to  meet  where  they  had 
agreed  to  worship  God  and  dispense  the  Sacraments.  In 
certain  places,  three  thousand  and  four  thousand  persons  con- 
vened; and  when  lights  were  hung  upon  the  trees  to  enable 
them  to  see  the  psalms  which  they  sung,  the  scene  must 


256  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

have  been  very  impressive.  Smaller  assemblies  were  held 
in  caves,  and  woods,  and  private  houses.  But  instead  of 
softening  their  enemies,  such  proceedings  seem  to  have  in- 
flamed their  Gospel  hatred  the  more,  till  death  became  the 
penalty  for  all  convicted  of  professing  any  religion,  save  that 
of  the  (/hurch  of  Rome.  The  dragoons  frequently  surround- 
ed and  fired  upon  the  congregations,  leaving  the  field  a  field 
of  blood;  and  such  was  their  hatred  to  the  very  places  where, 
as  they  alleged,  the  Devil's  Sabbath  had  been  held,  that  they 
have  been  known  to  raze  the  humble  farm-house,  where  the 
suflJering  saints  of  God  assembled,  to  the  ground,  and  cut 
down  and  burn  the  trees  on  which  the  lamps  were  hung 
which  lighted  their  Bibles,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  read  the 
Word  of  God  and  sing  his  praises.  These  assemblies  of  the 
mountain  and  the  desert  long  continued  in  spite  of  every 
atrocity,  till  we  are  assured  one  could  scarcely  take  four  steps 
upon  the  mountain  side  without  finding  a  corpse  hanging  on 
a  tree,  or  lying  on  the  ground.  I  have  already  referred  to 
the  fine  Christian  spirit  and  conduct  of  the  martyrs,  but  the 
following  death-scene  will  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader. 
It  is  that  of  M.  Fulcran  Rey,  a  student  of  divinity,  of  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  who  acted  as  pastor  to  some  of  the  scat- 
tered remnant  of  whom  I  have  been  writing.  He  was  con- 
demned to  be  hung.  The  following  is  the  account  of  his 
death;  and  surely  the  temper  and  constancy  which  it  dis- 
plays, are  worthy  of  the  noblest  periods  of  the  Church  of 
Christ:— 

"  The  intendant  was  present,  who  began  by  arts  of  sweet- 
ness and  promises,  adding  thereunto  all  that  which  is  most 
terrible  in  death.  But  to  his  promises  he  answered,  '  I  love 
not  the  world,  nor  the  things  of  the  world.  I  esteem  all 
those  advantages  whereof  you  speak  as  dung;  I  tread  them 
under  my  feet.'  Unto  the  threalenings  of  punishment  he 
said,  '  My  life  is  not  at  all  dear  to  me,  if  so  be  I  may  finish 
my  course  with  joy,  and  gain  Jesus  Christ.  Whatsoever 
death  is  prepared  for  me,  it  will  be  always  glorious  if  I  suffer 
it  for  God,  and  for  the  same  cause  for  the  which  my  Saviour 
died.'  An  incredible  company  of  other  people  came  to  see 
him  in  the  prison,  all  to  the  same  end;  and  nothing  was  for- 
gotten of  all  that  which  might  soften  the  mind,  and  weaken 
the  firmness  of  his  courage.  All  these  means  being  unsuc- 
cessful, in  conclusion,  the  intendant  proceeded  to  his  con- 
demnation. He  appeared  at  the  bar.  When  he  was  there, 
the  intendant  said  to  him,  '  Mr.  Rey,  there  is  yet  time  for 


OF    FRANCE.  257 

your  preservation.'     '  Yea,  my  Lord,'   answered  he,  '  and 
for  that  reason  I  will  employ  the  time   that  remains  in  en- 
deavouring my  salvation.'     He  replied  to  him,  '  But  you 
must  change,  and  you  shall  have  life.'     '  Yea,'  saith  he,  «  I 
must  change,  but  it  is  to  go  from  this  miserable  world,  and 
go  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  where  a  happy  life  attends  me, 
which  I  shall  speedily  enjoy.    Don't  promise  me  the  present 
life;  I  am  entirely  disengaged  from  it;  death  is  much  more 
eligible.   If  I  had  been  afraid  of  death,  you  had  not  seen  me 
here.    God  hath  caused  me  to  understand  his  truth,  and  does 
me  the  honour  to  die  for  it.     Speak  no  more  to  me  of  the 
good  things  of  the  world,  they  have  no  savour  or  taste  with 
me:   for  all   the   treasures  of  the  earth  I  will  not  renounce 
that  which  I  expect  in  heaven.'     When  the  judges  saw  him 
thus  firm  and  steadfast,  they  gave  over  vexing  him  about  his 
religion,  and  proceeded  to  make  his  process.     He  answered 
to  all  their  questions  with  a  respect,  sweetness,  and  modera- 
tion, which  melted  all  the  auditors.     When  they  were  ready 
to  pronounce  his  sentence,  they  solicited  him  anew  to  have 
pity  on  himself,  and  not  by  an  unhappy  obstinacy  sacrifice 
a  life  which  was  given  him  to  preserve.     '  I  am  no  more,' 
says  he,  '  in  condition  to  advise  about  what  1  am  to  do.     I 
have  made  my  choice:  here  is  no  further  place  for  bargains. 
I  am  ready  to  die,  if  God  hath   so  appointed   it.     All  the 
promises  which  can  be  made  will  never  be  able  to  shake  me, 
nor  hinder   me  from  rendering  what  I   owe  to  my   God.' 
Therefore  they  read  his  sentence,  by  which  he  was  con- 
demned to  be  hanged,  and  put  to  the  rack  before  he  was  led 
to  the  gibbet.     He  heard  his  sentence  read  without  any  com- 
motion;  and  when  it  was  ended  he  said,  'They  treat  me 
more  gently  than  they  treated  my  Saviour,  in  condemnmg 
me  to  so  easy  a  death ;  I  had  prepared  myself  to  be  broken 
on  the  wheel,  or  be  burnt.'     And  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  hea- 
ven, he  added,  '  I  give  thee  thanks,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 
for  all  the  blessings  that  thou  hast  bestowed  upon  me.     I 
give  thee  thanks   that  thou  hast  found  me  worthy  to  suffer 
for  thy  Gospel,  and  die  for  thee.     1  give  thee   thanks  also 
for  that  thou  hast  called  me  to  suffer  so  easy  a  death,  after  1 
had  prepared  my  heart  to  suffer  the  most  cruel  death  for 
thee.'     In  execution  of  the  sentence  he  was  put  upon  the 
rack.     He  suffered  it  without  any  complaint,  or  one  word  of 
murmuring,  answering  no  other  thing,  but  that  he  had  said 
all,  and  had  nothing  more  to  answer.     And  when  he  was 
taken  from  the  rack,  turning  to  the  judges,  he  told  them,    1 
17 


258  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

have  not  suffered  the  pain  which  you  would  have  made  me 
suffer.  I  believe  that  you  have  suffered  more  than  I;  I  have 
had  no  sense  of  pain,  I  do  profess  before  you.' 

"  They  bring  back  our  martyr  to  the  place  where  he  was 
to  prepare  himself  for  death.  He  dined,  because  they  would 
have  it  so ;  and  whilst  he  was  eating  he  said  to  those  that 
gave  him  his  meat,  very  calmly,  '  Others  eat  to  live,  and  I 
eat  to  die.  This  is  the  last  repast  that  I  shall  take  upon  earth; 
but  against  the  evening  there  is  prepared  a  banquet  in  the 
heavens,  to  which  I  am  invited,  and  whither  I  shall  be  con- 
ducted by  the  angels.  These  happy  spirits  will  suddenly 
remove  me,  to  make  me  partaker  with  ihem  of  ihe  delights 
of  paradise.'  'i'he  rest  of  the  day  they  let  loose  npon  him 
many  monks,  who  received  no  other  fruits  of  their  assaults 
but  disappointment  and  confusion.  Amidst  all  those  distrac- 
tions into  which  they  endeavoured  to  cast  him,  he  employed 
himself  in  singing  of  psalms,  in  lifting  up  his  soul  to  God, 
and  presenting  fervent  prayers  to  him.  About  the  evening, 
as  he  went  forth  out  of  the  prison,  to  go  to  execution,  two 
monks  drew  near  to  him,  saying,  '  We  are  here  to  accom- 
pany and  comfort  you.'  He  answered  them,  '  I  have  no  need 
of  you.  I  have  a  comforter  that  is  more  faithful,  and  which 
is  within  me,  for  my  consolation.  I  have  a  guard  of  angels 
round  about  my  person,  and  which  have  assured  me  that 
they  will  be  with  me  to  my  last  breath.'  He  marched  to- 
ward the  place  of  execution  with  an  appearance  of  satisfac- 
tion and  tranquillity  of  spirit  visible  to  all  the  spectators ;  and 
having  observed  some  of  our  brethren  that  were  fallen  pour- 
ing out  floods  of  tears  while  they  saluted  him,  said  to  them, 
'  Weep  not  for  me,  but  weep  for  yourselves ;  I  shall  be  soon 
out  of  sufferings,  and  from  this  vale  of  tears,  but  I  see  and 
leave  you  there.  In  the  name  of  God  recover,  and  repent, 
and  he  will  have  pity  upon  you.'  When  he  was  in  a  place 
and  distance  that  he  could  see  the  gibbet,  where  he  was  to 
end  liis  combat,  he  cried  out  with  transport  of  joy,  '  Be 
strong,  be  strong;  this  is  the  place  which  1  long  since  pro- 
posed to  myself,  and  for  which  God  himself  hath  prepared 
me:  how  welcome  doth  this  place  appear  to  me!  I  there 
see  the  heavens  open  to  receive  me,  and  angels  coming  to 
accompany  me  thither.'  He  would  afterwards  have  sung  a 
psalm,  as  he  drew  near  to  the  gibbet;  but  the  judges,  who 
saw  that  the  crowd  was  moved  and  pierced  by  the  signs  and 
tokens  of  his  constancy,  imposed  silence  on  him,  and  forI)ad 
him   to  sing.     He  obeyed,   because   they  constrained  him; 


OF    FRANCE.  259 

and  arriving  to  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  he  said,  *  Oh,  how 
welcome  is  this  ladder  to  me !  since  it  must  serve  me  as  a 
step  to  finish  my  course,  and  mount  to  heaven.'  They  per- 
mitted him  to  say  his  prayers  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder.  And 
when  he  was  ascended,  he  saw  monks  ascending  after  him, 
which  obliged  him  to  repel  them,  saying,  '  Retire:  I  have 
told  you,  and  I  tell  you  again,  I  have  no  need  of  your  suc- 
cour. I  receive  enough  from  my  God  to  enable  me  to  take 
the  last  step  of  my  journey.'  He  would  have  gone  on,  and 
given  a  reason  of  his  faith  to  that  innumerable  crowd  of  peo- 
ple, above  which  he  was  raised.  But  they  feared  the  effect 
of  a  sermon  preached  from  such  a  pulpit,  and  by  such  a 
preacher.  They  well  foresaw  that  he  would  speak,  and 
therefore  had  set  round  about  the  gibbet  many  drums,  which 
they  appointed  to  be  beaten  at  once.  'Tis  a  new  kind  of 
gag,  which  is  not  altogether  so  frightful  as  that  of  another 
kind,  but  produces  the  same  effect.  The  spirit  of  hell  is  al- 
ways the  same,  and  hath  always  the  same  fears.  He  hath 
often  felt  the  force  of  those  preachers  which  preach  from 
gibbets,  and  out  of  the  piles  of  wood;  he  fears  their  elo- 
quence, and  judges  it  most  safe  to  impose  silence  on  them. 
Our  martyr  therefore  speaks  not  but  for  himself;  but  his 
countenance,  his  eyes,  his  hands,  bespeak  his  courage,  his 
faith  and  constancy ;  and  this  language  was  so  effectual  that 
the  village  of  Beaucaire,  although  wholly  plunged  in  dark- 
ness and  prejudices  for  Popery,  was  moved  thereby  in  an 
extraordinary  manner." 

Nor  was  it  the  young  and  the  strong  only  who  thus  cheer- 
fully sacrificed  their  lives  for  Christ — the  aged,  the  men  of 
hoary  hairs,  did  not  in  the  infirmities  of  years  shrink  from 
similar  martyrdom.  A  correspondent  of  M.  Jurieu  writes, 
a  few  months  after  the  sacrifice  of  Rey — 

"  I  hope  that  Marseilles,  which  has  seen  the  last  hours  of 
the  martyrdom  of  Mr.  Du  Crosse,  will  become  more  famous 
by  the  number  of  martyrs  than  by  its  antiquities  and  other 
singularities.  We  have  been  informed  that  two  good  old 
men  of  Vassi,  in  Champagne,  have  there  received  their 
crowns.  One  of  them  is  called  Monsieur  Chantguyon,  of 
seventy-four  years  of  age,  of  which  he  employed  thirty-four 
in  the  service  of  that  church,  in  quality  of  an  elder,  with 
great  care  and  fidelity.  This  good  old  man  was  arrested  on 
the  frontiers  of  Champagne,  endeavouring  to  go  out  of  the 
kingdom;  he  was  condemned  to  the  galleys;  he  appeals  to 
ihe  Parliament  of  Mets,  whither  he  was  transmitted;  his 


260  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

sentence  was  confirmed,  and  there  he  received  that  glorious 
chain  under  which  he  hreathed  his  last.  He  was  so  oppress- 
ed with  age  and  infirmities,  that  he  was  so  far  from  being 
able  to  bear  a  chain,  that  he  was  not  able  to  bear  himself. 
His  judges  were  touched  and  afilicled  with  it,  but  they  said 
they  must  make  examples.  He  went  from  Mets  about  the 
end  of  September,  with  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Chemet,  who 
was  sixty-nine  years  of  age,  and  also  in  chains,  and  much 
more  infirm  than  he,  having  both  a  rupture  and  an  asthma. 
They  were  both  full  of  joy,  and  gloried  that  they  were  found 
worthy  to  suffer  for  the  name  and  truth  of  God.  In  all  the 
places  through  which  they  passed  upon  the  road,  they  found 
persons  which  have  given  testimony  to  their  constancy  and 
courage.  These  two  martyrs  bore  their  chain  to  Marseilles: 
but  the  end  of  their  journey  was  the  end  of  their  race,  and 
the  time  of  their  coronation.  They  both  died  within  a  few 
days  of  each  other,  giving  glory  to  God,  and  confessing  his 
truth,  haviug  never  had  any  inclination  to  deny  it,  to  deliver 
themselves  out  of  this  sad  condition.  Mr.  Chantguyon  is 
of  the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  for  he  had  for  grandfather  Peter 
Chantguyon,  who  was  one  of  those  that  suffered  death  in 
the  massacre  of  Vassi,  which  was  the  signal  to  the  civil  war 
of  the  past  age." 

And  while  under  the  smile  of  the  Saviour,  martyrs  were 
so  happy  to  part  with  life,  the  misery  of  those  who  shrunk 
for  a  time  from  the  trial,  renders  the  power  and  glory  of  the 
truth  which  pierced  them  the  more  illustrious.  The  same 
correspondent  adds: — 

"  How  sad  soever  the  state  of  these  confessors  which 
suffer  for  the  name  of  Christ  may  seem  to  be,  'tis  neverthe- 
less infinitely  less  calamitous  than  that  of  those  who  are 
lapsed  and  fallen,  whose  conscience  makes  them  feel  those 
torments  which  cannot  easily  be  expressed.  We  have  thought 
ourselves  obliged  to  communicate  to  you  on  this  subject  the 
letter  of  a  person  of  great  quality,  wife  to  one  of  our  most 
famous  confessors.  She  had  imitated  the  courage  of  her  il- 
lustrious husband  for  the  space  of  above  a  whole  year;  but 
the  tempter  assailed  her  at  an  ill  season,  and  caused  her  to 
lose  her  crown.  Behold  how  bitter  the  tears  are  which  dropt 
from  this  unfortunate  gentlewoman ! 

"  '  Alas,  my  dear  Mr. ,  blame  me  not  if  I  have  not 

acquainted  you  with  the  unhappy  state  in  which  I  am ;  so 
great  was  my  confusion,  by  reason  of  my  fall,  that  I  have 
not  the  boldness  to  publish  it  myself.     It  is  impossible  to 


OP    FRANCE. 


261 


express  unto  you  my  grief,  'tis  such  that  I  am  not  able  to 
bear  up  against  it;  1  am  oppressed  by  the  weight  thereof;  I 
am  neither  able  to  hve  nor  die;  no  body  can  conceive  how 
lamentable  my  state  is.  I  was  so  content  with  my  trial,  and 
so  resigned  to  the  will  of  God,  that  1  could  willingly  have 
suffered  death,  if  he  had  called  me  ihereunto.  I  was  accept- 
able, and  in  good  reputation  among  all  persons,  and  enjoyed 
a  wonderful  rest  and  repose  of  mind.  'Tis  true  it  was  a 
little  disturbed  by  the  coming  of  my  son,  who  tormented  me 
extremely,  but  all  was  to  no  purpose.  God  bestowed  those 
mercies  on  me  that  I  did  not  deserve,  nor  did  I  make  any 
suitable  returns  for  them.  I  presumed  too  much  on  myself, 
yet  I  was  not  altogether  without  suspicion.  Alas,  how  do  I 
find  true  in  experience,  that  the  spirit  is  ready,  but  the  flesh 
is  weak,  and  that  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
an  offended  God !  How  great  are  my  sins,  since  the  casti- 
gation  of  them  is  so  terrible !  Whilst  I  write  I  pour  out 
tears,  I  do  assure  you,  and  they  flow  from  me  night  and 
day.  I  repent:  O  my  God,  help  my  weakness!  I  for- 
give you  that  upon  the  first  hearing  of  this  thing,  you  cried 
out  to  all  against  me,  and  did  judge  that  it  was  the  world, 
estate,  and  ease,  and  to  conclude  whatsoever  you  please  was 
the  cause  thereof.  I  do  not  justify  myself  at  all,  nor  do  I 
plead  any  thing  for  my  excuse.  I  was  weak  and  feeble,  my 
faith  failed  me  in  a  time  of  need,  and  God  did  not  enable  me 
to  sutler  for  his  name.  In  my  unhappy  state  I  have  never- 
theless this  perfect  confidence  in  the  mercy  of  my  great  God, 
that  he  will  raise  me  up,  and  I  shall  glorify  him,  whether  it 
be  in  life  or  death,  and  that  my  Christ  will  be  always  gain  to 
me,  whether  I  live  or  die.  He  desires  not  the  death  of  a  sin- 
ner, but  his  conversion  and  life.  My  God  draw  me,  and  I 
will  run  after  thee,  and  do  thou  lead  me  to  the  haven  of  hap- 
piness. Thou  seest  my  heart,  O  my  God,  'tis  entirely  thine, 
as  well  as  my  mouth:  I  will  confess  thee  every  where.  For 
the  space  of  four  hours  I  was  tormented  by  fifteen  persons ; 
I  cried  with  all  my  strength,  begging  the  gallows  and  death. 
I  was  nigh  unto  death,  and  how  happy  had  I  been  if  I  had 
died.  I  had  not  one  moment  of  rest;  I  knew  not  where  I 
was,  by  reason  of  the  great  noise  that  was  made.  They 
made  use  of  this  great  trouble  and  confusion,  and  well  per- 
ceiving that  if  they  suff'ered  me  to  return  to  myself  they 
would  gain  nothing,  therefore  they  repeated  their  assaults 
with  the  greater  force,  and  reduced  me  to  the  most  pitiable 
condition  in  the  world.     I  do  not  hide  my  anguish  from  any 


262  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

one ;  and  I  speak  with  greater  courage  than  ever.  By  the 
grace  of  my  God  I  am  prepared  to  suffer  all  the  evil  which 
can  betide  me  in  the  world.  The  good  God  will  be  my  de- 
fence, and  my  support.  I  entreat  you  to  pray  to  God  for 
me,  and  don't  think  that  I  am  fastened  to  this  world;  I  am 
more  estranged  from  the  love  of  it  than  ever.  It  seems  to 
me  that  my  house  is  a  tomb;  I  will  never  more  see  any  per- 
son ;  every  thing  that  I  see  reproaches  me ;  my  own  soul 
smites  me  so  sharply  that  'tis  deplorable.  Suffer  with  me 
in  my  grief,  I  pray  you — I  am  worthy  of  pity ;  and  oh  that 
the  great  God  would  pardon  and  deliver  us  quickly  from  the 
torments  which  we  feel!'  " 

Such  affecting  cases  give  us  a  deeper  impression  of  the 
piety  and  sufferings  of  those  who,  from  the  first,  successfully 
endured  the  fiery  trial,  than  we  could  otherwise  have  pos- 
sessed. They  supply  us  with  a  visible  measure  and  index 
of  what  men  underwent  for  Christ,  and  so  do  not  allow  us 
to  imagine  that  they  acted  under  the  vain  influence  of  a  wild 
enthusiasm — they  show  that  there  was  deliberate  calculation 
beforehand,  and  that  the  prospect  was  sometimes  too  appal- 
ling for  the  faith  even  of  the  acknowledged  saints  of  God. 

I  might  fill  pages  with  pictures  of  the  desolation  of  the 
Protestant  provinces  of  France,  such  as  Languedoc  and  Ce- 
vennes,  but  this  would  merely  be  repeating  what  has  been 
already  described.  Instead  of  dwelling  any  longer  upon  the 
persecutions  at  home  at  this  period,  let  the  reader  for  a  mo- 
ment contemplate  the  embarkation  and  banishment  of  the 
faithful  to  a  foreign  shore,  to  which  a  general  reference  has 
been  already  made.  A  correspondent  of  Jurieu,  under  date 
February  12,  1687,  ^vrites  : 

"  To  overcome  the  constancy  of  those  who  have  resisted 
prisons,  galleys,  dungeons,  hunger,  thirst,  vermin,  and  rot- 
tenness, they  have  thought  of  a  new  kind  of  persecution  in 
the  council  of  persecutors,  and  it  is  to  send  our  faithful  bre- 
thren to  Canada:  they  conduct  them  in  troops  to  Marseilles, 
and  to  Casteldy,  where  they  must  be  embarked.  In  one 
month's  time  they  have  drawn  from  the  prisons  of  Montpel- 
lier,  of  Aygues-Mortes,  of  Nismes,  and  of  all  the  parts  of 
Cevennes,  a  number  of  prisoners  so  great  that  we  know  not 
how  to  count  them,  for  fear  of  speaking  it  too  little ;  or  of 
not  being  beheved,  for  reporting  it  too  much.  This  is  cer- 
tain, that  the  letters  which  have  been  written  more  than  six 
weeks  or  two  months  since,  do  say  that  there  are  already 
four  hundred  prisoners  at  the  least,  which  have  been  embark- 


OP    FRANCE.  263 

ed  at  Marseilles,  or  are  ready  for  it,  to  be  led  into  slavery  in 
those  new  countries. 

"  It  is  expedient  that  you  see  here  some  extracts  of  letters 
that  came  from  that  country.  One  letter  from  Aries  says, 
that  a  great  number  of  men  hath  been  seen  to  pass  with  their 
legs  lied  under  the  bellies  of  horses,  followed  by  twelve  long 
carts,  covered  over,  and  filled  with  men  and  women,  tied  by 
the  waists  to  the  carts.  These  are  persons  of  Upper  Lan- 
guedoc,  which  were  carried  to  Marseilles  to  be  sent  to  Ame- 
rica. Among  these  persons  there  were  some  very  famous. 
Amongst  others,  an  advocate  of  Nismes,  who  is  famous  by 
a  confession  of  eighteen  months,  which  he  passed  in  a  dark 
dungeon,  nasty  and  infectious,  tired  with  the  verbal  persecu- 
tions of  the  Bishop  of  Mire-poix,  but  was  never  prevailed 
upon  to  make  any  subscription.  A  more  glorious  testimony 
cannot  be  given  to  the  courage,  piety,  constancy,  and  zeal  of 
a  confessor,  than  is  with  one  consent  given  to  this  man. 
Behold  him  at  present  going  to  carry  the  torch  of  his  faith 
into  a  new  world,  and  I  hope  that  it  will  kindle  other  torches 
there.  There  are  also  Mr.  Guirant  and  Mr.  Martin,  both  of 
Nismes,  which  are  not  less  illustrious  for  their  perseverance 
and  their  piety,  having  never  made  any  defection  from  the 
faith.  Mr.  Serre,  of  Montpellier,  Mr.  Guy  of  Bederieux,  a 
widow  named  Madam  de  Bosc,  and  her  sister.  Mademoiselle 
de  Cavaille,  with  Mr.  Martin  also  of  Montpellier,  two  sisters 
of  Mr.  Arnauld,  minister  of  Vaunert,  are  also  of  this  number. 
There  are  also  gendemen  and  persons  of  quality,  which  we 
will  not  name  unto  you  until  we  are  perfectly  assured  there- 
of. Behold  a  letter  from  one  of  those  honest  men,  which 
will  acquaint  you  with  the  disposition  of  mind  in  which  ihey 
are  on  the  subject,  and  in  the  prospect  of  this  new  kind  of 
punishment." 

The  following  seems  to  have  been  written  to  a  refugee, 
probably  residing  in  Holland  : — 

'^I  have  thought,  my  dear  mother,  that  before  I  am  re- 
moved into  a  new  world,  as  they  threaten  us,  it  is  my  duty 
to  inform  you  of  my  state,  and  to  acquaint  you  with  the 
true  sentiments  of  my  soul.  Oh!  how  happy  are  you 
and  my  dear  sisters,  whom  God  by  his  infinite  mercy  hath 
preserved  so  long  in  your  retirement,  and  preserved  from 
the  snares  that  have  been  so  often  laid  for  you ;  but  more 
especially  in  that  he  hath  led  you  in  so  miraculous  a  man- 
ner out  of  this  sad  and  unhappy  kingdom,  that  you  may 
taste  his  divine  consolations  in   holy   assemblies,    with  all 


264  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

the  liberty  that  can  be  desired.  Be  never  forgetful  of  be- 
nefits so  great,  if  you  desire  that  God  should  continue  his 
blessings  and  mercies  upon  you  and  yours.  Pray  continually 
for  the  liberty  of  Zion ;  for  all  our  poor  brethren  that  have 
unhappily  fallen,  and  for  the  prisoners  of  Jesus  Christ.  You 
have  begun  gloriously,  but  all  that  is  nothing  if  you  do  not 
persevere  to  the  end ;  therefore  give  up  yourselves  to  Divine 
Providence,  and  be  assured  that  God  will  give  you  all  that 
is  necessary  in  this  life,  and  that  which  is  to  come,  if  so  be 
you  offer  unto  him  that  acceptable  sacrifice  of  your  goods, 
your  families,  and  even  of  your  lives.  Never  turn  your 
face  back  again,  through  trouble  and  regret  for  what  you 
have  forsaken ;  do  not  do  as  the  wife  of  Lot,  lest  you  par- 
take in  the  same  punishment.  I  do  acknowledge  that  there 
is  need  of  extraordinary  endeavours,  and  very  great  grace  to 
surmount  our  natural  affections,  and  that  tenderness  and  na- 
tural compassion  which  does  so  strongly  bind  us  to  each 
other ;  but  when  the  glory  of  God  and  our  own  salvation  is 
discoursed  on,  we  ought  not  to  stagger  one  moment  from 
following  our  duty;  for  he  which  loves  father  or  mother, 
husband,  wife,  or  children,  more  than  his  Saviour,  is  not 
worthy  to  be  called  his  disciple.  Wherefore,  my  dear  mo- 
ther and  sisters,  make  appear  to  your  last  breath  the  differ- 
ence you  make  between  earth  and  heaven,  betwixt  the  per- 
fect love  which  we  have  for  our  Divine  Redeemer,  and  that 
which  we  have  for  the  things  of  the  world;  and  let  us  assure 
ourselves  of  his  protection  and  favour  if  we  persevere  to  the 
end.  The  death  of  my  father  hath  extremely  edified  and 
comforted  me.  His  patience  and  perseverance  hath  given 
a  joyful  and  certain  assurance  of  his  happiness,  that  it  is  so 
far  from  afflicting  me,  that  I  desire  to  be  dissolved  as  he  is, 
to  be  with  Christ  Jesus,  which  is  much  better.  I  reserve 
my  tears  for  the  sad  and  deplorable  state  of  the  Church,  and 
for  the  fatal  hard-heartedness  of  my  poor  brethren,  for  whorii 
I  pray  unto  God  night  and  day,  that  he  would  cause  them  to 
return  from  their  wanderings,  and  show  them  mercy  and 
grace.  This  is  tliat  true  affliction  which  eats  up  my  soul, 
and  sadly  overwhelms  my  spirit.  For  my  own  part  I  was 
never  more  content,  and  at  rest,  than  I  find  myself  at  pre- 
sent: so  that,  after  having  exactly  considered  the  world  and 
all  its  vanities,  I  esteem,  with  St.  Paul,  that  all  things  duly 
reckoned,  the  sufferings  of  the  present  world  are  not  worthy 
to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed;  so  that, 
my  dear  mother,  I  am  fully  resolved  to  do  ray  duty,  even  to 


OF    FRANCE.  265 

my  last  moment.     They  have  already  conducted  to  Mar- 
seilles one  hundred  prisoners,  and  the  17th  of  this  month  we, 
being  seventy  in  number,  departed  from  Montpellier  together. 
They  have  brought  from  Sommieres  twenty-four  maids,  or 
wives,  and  to-morrow  they  bring  forty  more  from  thence — 
it  is  the  general  rendezvous.    I  know  what  will  be  the  event 
of  all  this;  nevertheless,  all  are  perfectly  resolved  for  this 
long  voyage.     Monsieur  de  Cross  is  always  here,  who  is 
shortly  to  be  embarked  with  his  own  daughters,  and  four 
of  Monsieur  Audemard's,  who  never  changed  their  religion. 
Whatever  be  our  fate,  we  shall  always  be  under  the  eyes  of 
God  and  his  protection.      Pray  for  us,   as  we  do  for  you; 
and  let  all  our  friends  and  all  our  churches,  redouble  their 
prayers  for  those  poor  unhappy  persons  which  are  carried 
away,  it  may  be,  to  the  shambles.   God  be  with  you,  my  dear 
mother,  and  dear  sisters.    Be  assured  that  I  shall  be  faithful  to 
my  God,  to  my  last  breath,  in  whatsoever  place  I  shall  remain. 
"  This  last  kind  of  punishment  has  stricken  men  with 
more  horror  than  all  the  preceding.     Whilst  persons  remain 
in  their  country  they  endure  the  labours  of  flight,  the  uneasi- 
ness of  sojourning  in  woods,  famine,  thirst,  prison,  and  the 
galleys,   in   some  hopes  of  change  and  alterations;    but  to 
see  their  entrails  torn  from  their  bowels,  the  half  of  ones 
self — a  wife,  a  husband,  children — unmercifully  forced  into 
a  new  world,  exposed  to  the  rage  of  the  sea,  to  the  dangers 
of  a  long  voyage,  and  at  the  end  of  all,  to  a  cruel  slavery 
upon  barbarous  or  unknown  shores,  where  they  live  without 
any  communion  with  those  that  are  their  own,  without  con- 
solation in  the  rigours  of  a  very  calamitous  servitude ; — this 
is  the  new  kind  of  punishment,  say  I,  which  puts  the  pa- 
tience of  the  most  confirmed  to  a  period.     But  nothing  does 
more  discover  the  temper  of  the  devil  of  persecution.  It  does 
not  suffice  to  lay  waste  the  kingdom  after  a  hundred  modes, 
to  put  to  flight  an  infinite  number  of  men,  and  to  make  wil- 
dernesses of  countries  heretofore  well  peopled;  they  will 
depopulate  the  state,  and  transport  the  best  of  its  inhabitants 
into  barbarous  countries.     Poor  slaves  !  remember  that  God 
is  every  where,  and  that  the  gates  of  heaven  are  open  in  all 
places.      Be  you  persuaded  that  Canada  will  rejoice  to  see 
your  constancy,  and  that  the  voice  of  your  confession  will 
pass  the  seas,  and  come  even  to  us;  but  above  all,  that  it 
will  pierce  the  heavens,  and  arrive  even  at  the  throne  of  God, 
where  you  will  find  favour,  and  it  may  be  your  enemies  will 
find  displeasure  and  wrath,  for  the  voice  of  your  suffering 


266  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

M'ill  solicit  Divine  vengeance,  and  hasten  their  punishment. 
The  Lord  have  pity  on  them  and  convert  them :  they  ought 
to  be  the  objects  of  our  compassion,  rather  than  those  of  our 
wrath.  Whilst  they  empty  the  citadels  on  one  side,  they 
fill  them  on  the  other.  A  letter  written  about  three  months 
since  says,  that  they  had  conducted  from  the  country  of  Cas- 
tres  to  Montpellier,  more  than  five  hundred  prisoners,  who, 
without  doubt,  must  travel  into  the  new  found  world,  as  well 
as  others.  How  sad  soever  the  lot  of  these  poor  people  that 
are  carried  into  the  new  world  may  seem,  I  reckon  it  more 
easy  than  the  state  of  those  who  are  in  the  prisons  of  the 
province  of  Languedoc,  where  they  treat  them  as  cruelly  as 
they  can  do  the  worst  of  criminals  and  parricides,  yea,  they 
insult  over  them  in  a  more  insolent  manner." 

Six  weeks  after,  one  of  the  ships  bound  for  America,  de- 
scribed in  the  above  extract,  was  seen  and  visited  oft'  Cadiz. 
The  Protestant  visiter  writes  to  Jurieu,  that  on  asking  the 
sufferers  on  what  account  they  went  to  America,  they  an- 
swered with  an  heroic  constancy,  "  Because  we  would  not 
worship  the  Beast,  nor  prostrate  ourselves  before  images." 
"Behold,"  say  they,  "our  crime!"  After  finding  a  cousin- 
german  on  board,  and  describing  her  condition,  he  goes  on 
to  say: — 

*'  1  desired  leave  of  the  captain  to  see  her  sister,  who  was 
not  able  to  come  upon  the  deck,  which  he  freely  granted  me. 
I  was  no  sooner  below  but  I  saw  fourscore  women,  or  maids, 
laying  upon  mats,  overwhelmed  with  miseries:  my  mouth 
was  stopped,  and  I  had  not  one  word  to  say.  They  told  me 
the  most  moving  things  in  the  world,  and  instead  of  giving 
them  consolation,  they  comforted  me ;  and  I  not  being  able 
to  speak,  they  told  me  with  one  common  voice,  '  We  put  our 
hands  upon  our  mouths,  and  say  that  all  things  come  from 
Him  who  is  King  of  kings,  and  in  Him  we  put  our  trust.' 
On  the  other  side  we  saw  one  hundred  poor  miserable  per- 
sons, oppressed  with  old  age,  whom  the  torments  of  tyrants 
had  reduced  to  their  last  gasp.  We  saw  there  of  all  sorts, 
of  all  ages,  and  of  all  qualities,  for  they  spare  none.  They 
told  me,  when  they  left  Marseilles,  they  were  two  hundred 
and  fifty  persons,  men,  women,  girls,  and  boys,  and  that  in 
fifteen  days  eighteen  of  them  died.  There  is  but  one  gentle- 
woman that  is  of  Poictou;  all  the  rest  are  of  Nismes,  or 
Montpellier,  and  the  countries  in  the  neighbourhood  thereof. 
A  countryman  who  lived  about  a  league  and  half  from  St. 
Ambrose,  who  suffered  all  that  he  could  suff'er,  upon  whom 


OF    FRANCE.  267 

these  barbarians  could  gain  nothing,  was  put  upon  board 
among  others,  and  is  since  dead  in  the  harbour  of  Grenada. 
His  son,  who  was  in  the  same  ship,  knew  me  at  first  sight. 
He  is  called  Griollet,  and  the  village  of  his  abode  Ceurla. 
There  are  yet  six  vessels  upon  their  departure  from  Pro- 
vence, laden  with  these  poor  men,  who  wait  for  nothing  but 
a  fair  wind  to  hoist  sail.  I  was  willing  to  have  encouraged 
my  kinswoman.  She  said  tome,  'Dear  cousin,  'tis  not 
death  that  I  fear:  if  God  will  call  me  hence,  I  shall  escape  a 
great  many  miseries  which  I  liave  yet  to  suffer;  but  I  am 
resigned  to  whatever  He  shall  please  to  lay  upon  me.  A 
young  gentleman,  which  the  Captain  entertained  at  his  own 
table,  died  of  grief  about  some  eight  days  since." 

It  is  needless  to  make  any  comments  on  these  affecting 
facts — they  speak  for  themselves.  To  the  Scottish  Chris- 
tian they  will  recall  similar  days  and  instruments  of  suffer- 
ing and  woe,  of  which  his  forefathers  were  the  victims.  The 
last  extract  which  I  shall  quote  from  the  Pastoral  Letters  of 
Jurieu,  contains  his  own  testimony  to  the  indestructibility, 
in  spite  of  all  these  desolations,  of  the  real,  living,  spiritual 
Church  of  the  Redeemer.  Mere  nominal  Christianity  may 
be  overthrown,  but  it  is  cheering  to  think  that  the  Gospel — 
living  Christianity — cannot  perish,  but  lives  and  grows  often- 
times the  more  it  is  wounded  and  crushed. 

"I  will  at  this  time  tell  you  no  more  sad  news;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  I  will  comfort  you  by  giving  you  to  under- 
stand, that  in  this  general  misfortune,  wherein  the  Reformed 
Church  of  France  sees  so  many  persons,  in  some  sort,  fall 
under  the  temptation,  we  have  the  joy  to  know  that  scarce 
one  falls  in  love  with  this  wicked  religion.  We  have  taken 
care  to  inquire  concerning  it  of  those  which  came  from  all 
parts,  and  we  have  caused  inquiries  to  be  made  upon  the 
places,  as  much  as  it  is  possible  for  us ;  but  we  can  assure 
you,  my  brethren,  as  a  thing  certain,  that  the  hatred  of  the 
Roman  religion  increases  every  day,  insomuch  that  the  per- 
secutors are  further  every  day  from  accomplishing  their 
designs  than  ever.  We  may  say,  without  fear  of  lying,  or 
hyperbole  of  expression,  that  this  persecution  has  not  gained 
to  the  Church  of  Rome  two  hundred  hearty  converts;  and 
although  I  know  a  vast  number  of  persons  have  been  pre- 
vailed withal  to  make  their  subscriptions,  yet  the  number  of 
those  which  have,  with  a  satisfied  judgment,  embraced  their 
religion,  is  so  small  that  it  does  not  deserve  to  be  computed : 
but  on  the  contrary,  by  a  surprising  marvel  of  Divine  Provi- 


268  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

dence,  this  persecution  has  opened  the  eyes  of  a  great  num- 
ber of  ancient  Catholics,  as  they  are  called.  That  which  we 
tell  you  is  no  conjecture  or  fiction,  'tis  that  which  we  know 
upon  good  testimony  ;  so  that  it  is  certain  that  the  Church  of 
God  has  gained  more  souls  than  it  has  lost.  These  seeds 
will  bring  forth  in  their  time.  Every  day  we  see  persons 
arrive  here  who  abjure  the  Roman  religion,  and  amongst 
them  there  are  such  as  are  eminent  by  their  merit,  by  their 
birth,  by  their  parts,  and  by  their  learning.  When  we  know 
that  they  will  not  take  it  ill,  if  we  name  them,  we  will  do  it ; 
for  'lis  necessary  that  all  the  world  know  it,  that  the  depths 
of  Divine  Providence  and  his  judgments  may  be  admired 
thereby." 

Do  any,  surveying  the  dread  persecution  which  we  have 
been  contemplating,  as  a  whole,  ask  the  question,  why  God 
gave  up  his  saints  to  suffer  so  long  and  so  severely?  The 
question  is  a  delicate  one,  and  if  answered  at  all,  should  be 
answered  with  humility  and  caution.  We  know  little  of 
God's  reasons.  We  see  the  immediate  or  proximate  causes, 
and  that  those  alleged  by  Roman  Catholics,  in  the  present 
case,  are  not  the  real  ones.  One  party  said  that  it  proceed- 
ed from  the  king's  zeal  for  the  truth.  This  is  notoriously 
false,  and  would  be  no  vindication  though  it  were  true.  To 
use  the  language  of  Bayle  regarding  persecution  in  general, 
it  is  nothing  "but  ferocity,  rage,  brutal  passion,  ambition, 
and  principles  of  a  similar  nature."  In  short,  it  is  hatred  to 
the  holy  Gospel  of  Christ.  As  regards  Louis  XIV.,  proba- 
bly the  Marquis  de  Louvois,  one  of  his  ministers,  described 
the  animating  motive  pretty  accurately,  when  he  ascribed  it 
to  royal  pride  and  self-will.  "  It  is  the  king^s  pleasure  that 
such  as  refuse  to  conform  to  his  religion,  should  be  punished 
with  the  utmost  rigour."  Voltaire  confessess  that  the  pre- 
vailing spirit  of  the  court  at  the  period  was,  "  that  every 
thing  ought  to  submit  to  the  will  of  Louis  XIV."  But  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  instrumental,  what  was  the  efficient 
and  procuring  cause  of  so  much  woe?  It  must  be  sought  for 
in  the  character  of  the  sufferers.  While  God  has  wise  and 
gracious  reasons  for  every  step  which  he  takes  in  the  treat- 
ment of  his  own  people — while  He  means  to  do  them  good 
by  every  stroke  which  he  inflicts,  it  must  never  be  forgotten 
that  error  or  sin  of  some  kind  lies  at  the  foundation  of  his 
atHictive  discipline.  What  was  the  evil  which  provoked  in 
the  French  Reformed?  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  compara- 
tive quiet  which,  as  a  Church,  they  enjoyed  during  a  con- 


OF    FRAXCE.  269 

siderable  part  of  the  reign  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  hilled 
them,  as  peace  at  an  after-day  lulled  a  greater  body — almost 
all  the  Protestant  Churches  of  Christendom — into  a  state  of 
carnal  security  or  spiritual  carelessness.  Men  who  were 
active  in  days  of  trial,  became  relaxed  in  days  of  prosperity. 
Then  there  must  have  been  a  want  of  correct  scriptural  prin- 
ciple on  the  part  of  many  of  them.  A  number  of  years  be- 
fore the  Revocation,  not  a  few  ministers — in  the  course  of  a 
year  sometimes  as  many  as  twenty — recanted  their  Protes- 
tantism, and  went  over  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  moved  by 
such  arguments  as  the  doctrine  of  "apostolic  succession" 
supplies.  Very  many  of  the  people  enlisted,  at  the  same 
time,  as  soldiers  in  the  armies  of  Louis,  though  it  was  noto- 
rious that  his  object  was,  the  aggrandizement  of  the  power  of 
France,  in  order  better  to  cripple  the  Protestantism  of  Eu- 
rope. There  must  have  been  something  very  defective,  in 
point  of  principle,  which  allowed  Protestants  to  ciioose  a 
profession,  which  not  only  might  bring  them  into  deadly  war 
with  brother  Protestants,  but  which  raised  up  a  power  for 
the  express  purpose  of  crushing  their  cause  throughout  the 
world.  Worst  of  all,  the  entire  Church  seems  to  have  been 
culpable  in  the  low  ground  which  it  took  in  its  dealings  with 
ihe  State,  contenting  itself  with  asking  for  mere  freedom  of 
worship  for  its  members,  instead  of  holding  out  before  tlje 
nation  the  supremacy  of  Christ  as  King  of  nations,  as  well 
as  King  of  the  Church,  and  calling  upon  men  to  acknowledge 
Christ,  by  renouncing  the  countenance  of  idolatry,  and  re- 
cognising the  worship  of  the  true  God.  The  ground  occupied 
by  the  French  Protestants,  however  excellent  very  many  of 
the  ministers  and  people  were,  was  comparatively  timid  and 
selfish.  They  asked  peace  and  protection  for  themselves 
which  was  all  proper;  but  they  ought  to  have  asked  more: 
they  should  have  pleaded  for  the  honour  of  Christ.  'J'his 
was  the  ground  which,  under  the  guidance  of  the  illustrious 
Knox,  was  occupied  by  the  Protestants  of  Scotland;  and 
doubtless  they  conquered  in  this  sign.  High  principle  is 
always  at  one  with  true  safety.  If  the  Church  honours 
Christ,  He  will  honour  the  Church  in  return.  It  is  not  im- 
probable that  the  narrow  and  timid  views  to  which  I  have 
alluded  formed  some  of  the  reasons  why  God  visited  his 
people  with  the  rod.  He  would  teach  a  bolder  confidence 
in  himself  and  in  his  Son;  and  probably,  had  the  French 
Church  possessed  such  a  counsellor  as  Knox,  she  would  have 
pursued  that  course. 


270  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 


KNOWLEDGE,  DISSOCIATED  FROM  TRUE  RELIGION,  UTTERLY 
UNABLE  TO  PREVENT  OR  NEUTRALIZE  THE  SPIRIT  OF  PERSE- 
CUTION EXEMPLIFIED  IN  THE  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 

Looking  over  the  long  and  bloody  history  of  persecution 
which  we  have  been  contemplating,  and  remembering  that  a 
chief  part  of  it  occurred,  not  in  a  dark  and  barbarous  age 
and  country,  but  in  the  heart  of  Europe — in  the  seventeenth 
century — during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  celebrated  as  the 
Augustan  age  of  French  literature — it  is  impossible  not  to 
ask  the  question,  Is  there  any  connection,  and  if  so,  what 
connection,  between  knowledge  and  persecution?  It  seems 
strange  that  these  should  co-exist  in  the  same  place  and  time. 
Many  imagine  that  the  persecution  of  others  for  their  reli- 
gious opinions  is  the  mere  effect  of  ignorance  and  barbarism, 
and  that,  were  these  removed  by  the  spread  of  knowledge 
and  refinement,  so  hateful  a  crime  would  speedily  disappear; 
bui  the  case  of  France  and  other  quarters  show  that  perse- 
cution is  founded  more  deeply — not  in  mere  ignorance  or 
barbarity,  but  in  the  very  nature  of  unrenewed  man.  The 
progress  of  civilization,  and  the  experience  of  its  inexpedi- 
ency, may  restrain  it,  or  mitigate  its  features;  but  it  is  the 
spirit  of  all  by  nature.  It  is  only  true  religion  which  can 
dispel  it;  and  even  the  faithful  servants  of  God,  from  various 
unfavourable  circumstances,  may  long  remain  under  its  in- 
fluence, in  spite  of  their  better  principles.  Its  essence  con- 
sists in  hatred  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Other  things — sys- 
tems philosophical  or  religious — may  be  persecuted;  but 
this  is  accidental.  The  hatred  and  accompanying  persecu- 
tion of  the  Gospel  of  free  salvation,  and  its  adherents,  are 
essential  to  the  character  of  the  natural  man. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  there  were  many  learned 
men — much  literature — no  small  general  knowledge  and  re- 
finement in  France  during  the  persecuting  times  which  we 
have  been  surveying.  Any  one  who  has  read  the  Memoirs 
of  Huet,  one  of  the  tutors  of  the  Dauphin  of  FVance,  the 
son  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Avranches — 
memoirs  which  stretch  over  a  period  of  nearly  ninety  years 
— must  be  persuaded  of  this.  Not  a  little  of  the  literature 
and  learning  might  be  trifling  or  useless.  There  may  have 
been  much  poetry,  which  has  perished — elaborate  editing  of 
ancient  authors,  who  did  not  deserve  such  care — large  at- 


OF    FRANCE.  271 

tainments  in  history  and  antiquities,  which  were  of  no  great 
value — oriental  acquisitions,  which  were  not  applied  to  any- 
important  purpose;  but  after  making  every  deduction,  hun- 
dreds of  names  could  be  referred  to  in  most  departments  of 
literature  and  science,  ancient  and  modern,  which  are  highly- 
creditable.  The  Jesuits  then  flourished,  many  of  whom 
were  eminent  for  classical  and  other  attainments.  The  French 
Academy,  too,  was  founded,  and  gave  a  powerful  impulse  to 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge.  Indeed,  the  most  illustrious  names 
in  France  are  to  be  found  in  the  age  when  the  Protestants 
were  most  severely  persecuted. 

'J'he  question  presents  itself,  how  did  these  enlightened 
men — men  of  large  and  capacious  minds — of  great  learning 
— familiar  with  the  past  experience  of  the  world — how  did 
they  feel  and  act  toward  the  injured  and  oppressed  Protes- 
tants of  their  own  land?  Did  they  combine  together  to  de- 
fend and  vindicate  their  cause  ?  As  patriots,  as  friends  of 
humanity,  as  men  of  knowledge  and  refinement,  they  were 
called  to  this  course — they  could  not  have  found  a  finer  field 
for  the  display  of  their  talents,  energies,  and  sympathies.  It 
was  far  superior  to  that  on  which  they  expended  so  much 
care  and  labour;  and  doubdess  their  influence,  even  on  the 
highest  councils  of  royalty,  would  have  been  very  powerful. 
But  to  the  disgrace  of  mere  literature  and  human  knowledge, 
the  learned  and  civilized  classes  of  France  did  nothing,  and 
attempted  to  do  nothing,  to  arrest  the  hand  of  oppression 
and  violence  upon  their  own  brethren.  They  were  utterly 
inefficient  and  powerless  for  good.  They  were  not  only, 
like  too  many  literati,  ignorant  of  true  religion,  and  so  full 
of  mean  jealousies,  and  torn  with  'petit  quarrels  among 
themselves;  but,  while  vaunting  of  their  civilization  and 
philanthropy,  they  allowed  the  most  shocking  barbarities  and 
bloody  persecutions  to  go  forward  for  years,  under  their  very 
eyes,  unchallenged  and  unrestrained :  nay,  many  of  them 
went  over,  for  miserable  mercenary  bribes,  to  the  side  of  the 
royal  oppressor.  Louis,  who  has  been  so  much  lauded  as 
the  disinterested  patron  of  learning  and  art,  was  most  par- 
tial and  exclusive  in  his  favours.  No  Protestant,  however 
largely  endowed  with  talent,  however  accomplished  in  the 
walks  of  literature,  had  any  prospect  of  success  in  his  call- 
ing as  a  man  of  science  or  literature,  unless  he  conformed 
to  the  Church  of  Rome.  Indeed,  it  was  the  only  mode  of 
passing  a  peaceful  and  unsuspected  life.  Hence  the  number 
of  Protestants  of  literary  taste  and  acquirement,  who,  in  the 


272  PROTESTATS'T  CHURCH 

course  of  the  reign  of  Louis,  externally  at  least,  professed 
themselves  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  While  in  Huet's 
Memoirs  we  read  of  only  one  Papist  becoming  a  Protestant, 
Lefevre,  subsequently  a  professor  at  the  Protestant  College 
of  Saumur,  and  no  great  credit  to  the  body,  we  read  of  very 
many  Protestants,  for  the  sake  of  literary  encouragement, 
becoming  apostates.  The  bishop's  own  father  was  one;  the 
Duke  of  xMontausier  another;  Fontanier,  who  was  bribed  to 
become  his  flattering  historiographer,  another;  beside  many 
others.  This  was  disgraceful  both  to  tlie  king  and  to  those 
whom  he  thus  prevailed  upon  to  abandon  the  religion  of 
their  fathers.  What  a  contrast  were  they  to  those  faithful 
Protestant  ministers  who  were  as  well  educated — as  eminent 
in  their  literary  tastes  and  talents  as  they,  and  yet  preferred 
not  only  to  bear  the  frown  of  royal  discouragement,  but  the 
pressure  of  royal  persecution,  sooner  than  sacrifice  their  reli- 
gious principles !  What  a  contrast  is  piety  in  its  operation 
to  mere  literature! 

This  brings  me  to  notice,  that  the  conduct  of  the  literary 
men  of  France,  in  reference  to  the  Protestant  persecution, 
was  the  more  inexcusable,  yea,  reprehensible,  inasmuch  as 
the  parties  who  were  oppressed  were  not  a  small  or  contempt- 
ible body  of  ignorant  rustics.  Even  that  would  be  no  apol- 
ogy for  indifference  to  cruelty.  But  it  is  well  known  that 
the  Protestants  formed  a  large  and  influential  body.  A  re- 
monstrance to  Pope  Pius  IV.,  on  the  part  of  Charles  IX.,  in 
1565,  spoke  of  them  in  such  language  as  the  following;  and 
there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  they  had  very  seriously 
fallen  off  in  numbers  or  character  in  the  time  of  Louis: — 

"  A  fourth  part  of  the  kingdom  is  separated  from  the  com- 
munion of  the  Church,  which  fourth  part  consists  o{  gentil- 
homnies,  (men  of  noble  blood,)  men  of  letters,  chief  bur- 
gesses in  cities,  and  such  of  the  common  people  as  have 
seen  most  of  the  world,  and  are  practised  in  arms :  so  that 
the  said  separated  persons  have  no  lack  of  force,  havino* 
among  them  an  infinite  number  of  genfilhojnmes,  and  many 
old  soldiers  of  long  experience  in  war.  Neither  do  they  lack 
good  counsel,  having  among  them  three  parts  of  the  men  of 
letters.  Neither  do  they  lack  money,  having  among  them  a 
great  part  of  the  good  wealthy  famihes,  both  of  the  nobility 
and  the  tier  etat,^'  &c.* 

*  See  Mr.  D.  D.  Scott's  important  work  on  the  Suppression  of  tlie 
French  Reformation,  page  12,  recently  published. 


OF    FRANCE.  273 

And  with  regard  to  literature,  the  reformed,  both  in  France 
and  in  other  countries  at  that  time,  were  eminent  for  their 
knowledge  and  attainments.  Comparatively  speaking,  they 
were  far  superior  in  these  respects  to  their  Popish  brethren. 
Even  from  the  Memoirs  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop, 
who  was  strongly  prejudiced  against  the  Protestants,  it  is  ap- 
parent that  they  had  their  full  share  of  men  of  talent  and 
learning  at  the  very  time  they  were  the  victims  of  the  king's 
manifold  oppressions.  Samuel  Bochart  was  the  Protestant 
and  Presbyterian  minister  of  Caen,  which  was  noted  at  once 
for  its  Calvinism  and  its  love  of  literature.  Alexander  Mo- 
rus  was  minister  at  Paris,  and  nobly  adhered  to  his  Protes- 
tant principles  and  professions,  in  spite  of  the  offers  of  royal 
bribery.  Blondel  was  a  learned  Protestant  minister,  and  so 
was  Stephen  le  Moine  and  Stephen  Morin — the  latter  of 
whom  had  to  flee  at  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict,  and  leave 
his  children  a  prey  to  Popery.  Benoit,  who  wrote  the  His- 
tory of  the  Revocation,  was  a  learned  refugee  minister. 
Ta vernier,  the  celebrated  traveller,  belonged  to  the  number 
of  the  French  Reformed:  so  did  Madame  Dacier,  so  eminent 
for  her  classical  attainments,  that  she  edited  some  of  the 
Delphin  editions  of  the  classics,  for  the  use  of  the  king's 
son;  and  yet  she  could  not  escape  the  royal  displeasure  for 
her  Protestantism.  Madame  Tiliac,  noted  for  her  attainments 
in  oriental  literature,  belonged  to  the  same  body.  Many 
names  might  be  added  to  these — such  as  Rapin,  the  author 
of  the  History  of  England,  an  elaborate  work.  Cameron, 
who  acquired  so  great  fame  by  his  Prelections  on  the  New 
Testament,  that  he  was  esteemed  by  the  most  learned  men 
of  Europe,  and  of  whom  a  modern  critic,  (Dr.  Pye  Smith,) 
says  that  he  often  anticipates,  in  biblical  criticism,  the  re- 
marks of  later  and  more  celebrated  writers.  Basnage,  of 
whom  Voltaire  said  that  he  was  fitter  to  be  a  minister  of 
state  than  a  minister  of  a  parish,  well  known  for  his  acquisi- 
tions in  Church  history.  L'Enfant,  celebrated  for  his  attain- 
ments in  the  same  line  of  study,  and  of  whom  Voltaire  said 
that  he  had  done  more  than  any  other  man  to  spread  the 
knowledge  of  the  energy  and  beauties  of  the  French  language 
to  the  extremities  of  Germany.  Saurin  and  Superville,  emi- 
nent as  pulpit  orators  and  men  of  learning;  besides  many 
who  have  been  already  quoted.  Most  of  those  here  noticed 
are  mentioned  in  the  literary  Memoirs  of  the  Popish  Bishop 
of  Avranches,  and  are  spoken  of  with  honour.  Were  it 
necessary  to  appeal  to  learned  men  belonging  to  other  Pro- 
18 


274 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


testant  Churches  of  the  Continent  about  the  same  period,  it 
were  easy  to  draw  together  a  long  and  impressive  array. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  Presbyterian  Holland,  with  its  minis- 
ters, was  a  great  centre  of  learning  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, and  can  produce  in  the  course  of  her  history,  names  of 
learned  men  which  no  Popish  or  Prelatical  Church  ever  sur- 
passed. I  merely  mention  Sahnasius  or  Saumai-ze,  who  has 
been  already  referred  to  as  the  advocate  of  the  cause  of 
Charles  I.  against  the  republican  Milton ;  Scaliger,  Golius, 
eminent  in  Arabic  and  Chinese  literature;  Heinsius,  Span- 
h:eim,  professor  of  theology  at  Leyden;  Leclerc  of  Amster- 
dam; Madame  Shurman,  of  unrivalled  attainments,  which 
seem  to  have  been  consecrated  to  the  cause  of  true  religion; 
Mark,  Glass,  Vitringa,  Witsius,  Stock,  Mcestricht,  Reland, 
Lampe,  Vantil,  De  Moor,  Venema,  Wetstein.  The  portraits 
of  the  professors  of  the  different  chairs,  from  the  earliest 
times  down  to  the  present  day,  still  shown  in  the  University 
of  Leyden,  and  which  I  have  had  the  happiness  of  seeing, 
exhibit,  it  is  believed,  a  combination  of  talent  and  acquire- 
ment which  no  Christian  Church  can  exceed.  As  to  the 
universities  among  the  Reformed,  Dr.  Douglas,  professor  of 
divinity  at  Aberdeen  in  1647,  gives  the  following  numbers  at 
that  date: — In  Upper  Germany,  nineteen;  in  Switzerland, 
four;  in  Holland,  six;  besides  other  illustrious  schools,  as 
Amsterdam,  Middleburgh,  &:c.  &;c.  In  Denmark  and  Swe- 
den, two;  in  Prussia,  three;  in  France,  eight;  in  England, 
two;  and  in  Scotland,  four;  making  in  all,  forty-eight  univer- 
sities— a  highly  creditable  number,  and,  doubtless,  the  foun- 
tain-heads of  much  literature  and  learning,  and,  at  that  day, 
also  sound  religion.  But  I  must  not  enter  upon  these  points. 
It  is  abundantly  obvious,  that  the  Reformed  in  France,  and 
their  brethren  in  neighbouring  lands,  could  boast  of  their  full 
proportion  of  literary  and  learned  men ;  and  yet,  that  when 
they  were  long  and  grievously  oppressed,  the  literary  men 
of  France,  in  their  most  golden  age,  showed  them  no  sym- 
pathy, held  out  to  them  no  support;  nay,  Naude,  a  man  of 
literature,  and  who  is  described  as  candid  and  without  preju- 
dice, vindicated  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  !  What, 
then,  are  we  to  think  of  mere  human  learning,  as  distin- 
guished from  that  which  is  divine  ?  Are  we  not  compelled 
to  conclude,  that  however  gratifying  it  may  be  to  the  indivi- 
dual possessors,  it  is  of  little  use  to  others — to  society  at 
large — when  it  is  unable  to  prevent  or  check  the  most  crying 
and  atrocious  crimes;  and  does  such  an  experience  not  serve 


OF   FRANCE.  275 

to  drive  us  the  more  to  that  revealed  knowledge  of  the  char- 
acter and  will  of  God,  which  corrects  the  most  serious  evils, 
whether  affecting  individuals  or  society,  and  blesses  both, 
with  a  harmony  and  love  which  are  the  foretaste  of  heaven? 
But  the  French  literati  not  only  did  nothing  for  the  persecu- 
ted Protestants,  though  they  had  such  strong  claims  on  their 
sympathy — they  yielded  the  most  fulsome  and  mean  spirited 
flattery  to  their  persecutor.  This  was  the  crying,  the  uni- 
versal vice  of  the  literature  of  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.  He 
was  worshipped  by  all  classes  of  literary  men  as  ademi-god. 
Panegyrics  in  poetry  and  prose  seem  to  have  been  the  stand- 
ing topics  of  the  time.  Even  the  Academy  bowed  to  this 
ignoble  employment;  and  not  satisfied  with  all  the  praise 
which  his  countrymen  at  home  could  offer,  the  miserable 
monarch  pensioned  foreigners  to  extend  the  degrading  flat- 
tery. Some  of  the  French  sycophants,  such  as  Boileau,  felt 
the  humiliation ;  the  loss  of  liberty  to  which  they  submitted 
for  a  pension,  and  confessed  it;  but  the  great  body  of  them 
seem  to  have  gloried  in  their  shame.  As  a  suitable  return 
for  such  meanness — for  such  a  perversion  of  those  powers 
and  attainments  with  which  God  had  blessed  them — the 
royal  persecutor  gave  them  very  humble  pay  for  all  their  ob- 
sequiousness. The  greatest  annual  sum  for  pensions  never 
exceeded  one  hundred  thousand  livres — a  sum  not  the  hun- 
dredth part  of  what  he  shamelessly  expended  on  personal 
profligacy;  and  even  this  sum  was  always  the  flrst  to  be  cut 
down  on  any  real  or  supposed  emergency ;  and  yet  men 
treated  in  this  way  were  the  men  who  worshipped  Louis,  or 
at  least  his  purse,  and  were  so  ambitious  and  vain-glorious, 
as  to  propose  to  make  the  French  language  universal!  It 
may  be  mentioned  that  the  king  expended  two  hundred  thou- 
sand livres  in  procuring  Delphin  editions  of  the  classics, 
sixty-two  in  number,  for  facilitating  the  classical  education 
of  his  son,  the  Dauphin;  but  such  was  his  jealousy  of  free- 
dom, that  Lucan,  a  free-spirited  classic,  was  not  translated, 
like  the  others.  What  failure  here  also  in  literary  views  1 
The  Dauphin,  in  spite  of  all  the  pains  bestowed  upon  him 
by  Bossuet  and  Huet,  turned  out  miserably  ignorant,  and 
could  never  be  prevailed  on  to  read  any  thing ;  like  the  son 
of  Chesterfield,  who  received  no  training  in  religion  or  mo- 
rality, but  in  the  rules  of  mere  conventional  politeness,  and 
who,  instead  of  proving  a  well-bred  man,  was  noted  as  utter- 
ly unmannerly.  What  a  view  does  all  this  give  us  of  the 
vanity  and  meanness  of  an  irreligious  literature !     Tried  by 


276  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

a  Christian  standard,  few  pictures  are  more  melancholy  than 
Johnson's  Lives  of  the  Poels.  Most  of  them,  alas !  built  on 
the  sand.  How  striking  the  contrast  between  the  French 
literati,  doing  nothing  for  the  persecuted — praising  the  per- 
secutor for  a  wretched  mercenary  return — the  great  body  of 
them  miserable  while  they  lived,  and  now  forgotten;  and  the 
faithful  friends  of  religious  and  well-principled  knowledge, 
who  ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  suffering,  were 
themselves  part  of  the  sufferers,  who,  amid  poverty  and 
royal  frowns,  persevered  in  cultivating  sound  learning,  and 
diffusing  its  blessings;  and,  through  their  ministry,  better 
prepared  the  Protestant  people  to  withstand  the  consuming 
violence  of  persecution.  How  noble  the  spirit  and  conduct 
of  similar  men  in  Scotland !  Persecuting  monarchs  may 
have  favoured  them  with  no  encouragement.  They  may 
have  harassed  and  wearied  them.  The  sufferers  may  have 
had  to  struggle  with  severe  poverty  ;  influential  parlies,  even 
Universities,  may  have  sided  with  the  oppressor;  but  they 
were  not  ashamed  of  the  principles  of  the  Word  of  God; 
they  made  learning  and  Hterature  subservient  to  religion  and 
the  spiritual  good  of  men;  and  when  the  storm  of  persecu- 
tion was  over,  they  had  their  reward.  The  names  of  Mel- 
ville, and  Henderson,  and  Carstares,  and  many  others,  are 
honoured  now;  and  even  should  this  act  of  justice  be  denied 
them,  they  themselves  shall  have  their  reward  hereafter. 
Yea,  long  ere  this,  we  may  be  sure,  as  Christian  men,  they 
are  reaping  its  enjoyment  in  the  heavenly  world. 

From  the  views  which  have  been  presented,  we  may  see 
how  utterly  insufficient  mere  secular  knowledge  is,  what- 
ever its  form,  to  prevent  intolerance  and  persecution.  It 
cannot  make  the  possessor  truly  happy  in  his  own  mind. 
It  cannot  eradicate  his  native  haired  to  the  Gospel,  nor  check 
and  destroy  its  manifestations  in  others.  If  so  large  a  part 
of  the  literary  and  learned  classes  of  France,  far  from  being 
on  the  side  of  the  suffering,  were  on  the  side  of  the  perse- 
cutor, at  least,  did  nothing  to  restrain  persecution,  is  it  to  be 
expected  that  the  secular  knowledge  of  other  countries  and 
ages  will  be  more  effective?  If  France  failed  in  its  Augustan 
period,  when  is  any  other  land  to  succeed  ?  'J'he  truth  is,  as 
vve  have  already  hinted,  the  hatred  of  the  Gospel,  and  the 
persecution  of  its  adherents,  are  founded  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  unrenewed  man — a  favourable  combination  of  circum- 
stances may  restrain,  but  cannot  eradicate  them.  It  is  only 
the  love  of  the  Gospel  in  the  heart — in  other  words,  true 


OF    FRANCE.  277 

religion,  which  can  dispossess  the  soul  of  a  persecuting 
spirit;  and  it  is  only  that  deep  love  to  man  which  the  faith 
of  the  Gospel  inspires,  which  can  lead  us  suitably  to  respect 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  others,  and,  while  we  hate  the 
error  or  superstition  which  enthrals  the  soul,  cherish  the 
tenderest  compassion  for  the  soul  which  is  enthralled.  So 
far,  then,  from  deep  views  of  religion — as  many  philosophers 
have  imagined — leading  to  uncharitableness  and  persecution; 
if  these  views  are  the  views  of  the  true  religion,  they  will  be 
found  to  conduct  to  the  very  opposite  result.  To  all  its 
other  honours,  Christianity  adds  that  of  being  the  first  suc- 
cessfully to  inculcate  true  toleration  to  those  who  differ  from 
us  in  religious  sentiment,  whether  more  or  less  seriously. 
Philosophy,  reason,  extensive  experience  would  fain  appro- 
priate the  honour  to  themselves ;  but  the  history  of  the  suf- 
fering French  Protestants  repudiates  the  claim,  and  makes 
over  the  tide  to  the  living  Gospel.  A  lesson  which,  of  all 
others,  seems  most  within  the  reach  of  human  wisdom,  can 
be  taught  and  learned  effectually  only  by  the  Revelation  of 
heaven.  The  best  instructions  for  time,  it  will  be  found, 
must  ever  be  learned  in  the  school  which  is  to  prepare  for 
eternity. 


CONTEMPORANEOUS    HISTORY    OF    THE    CHURCH   OF 
SCOTLAND,  FROM  1660  TO  1688. 

Most  melancholy  as  is  the  picture  of  the  Church  of  France 
which  has  just  been  presented,  it  is  not  more  dark  and  ter- 
riable  than  that  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  during  the  same 
sad  years.  I  broke  off  my  last  notices  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  with  the  close  of  the  Commonwealth.  Cromwell's 
rule  in  Scodand  had  been  a  rule  of  iron.  It  might  be  said 
to  be  a  military  despotism;  but  though  the  General  Assem- 
bly had  been  forbidden  to  meet,  and  there  had  been  other 
unwarrantable  interferences,  there  was  no  such  persecution 
of  the  Church  as  disgraced  the  reign  of  previous  monarchs; 
and,  moreover,  the  English  judges  whom  Cromwell  sent 
down,  administered  justice  much  more  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  people  than  the  native  judges.  Coming  from  a  distance 
and  a  larger  country,  they  were  not  open  to  the  same  preju- 
dices and  local  feelings  which  influenced  men  born  and  bred 
in  so  small  a  territory  as  Scotland.     Hence  they  settled  a 


278  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

multitude  of  cases  which  had  accumulated  in  hundreds,  some 
of  them  of  sixteen  and  twenty  years'  standing,  and  so  dif- 
fused confidence  throughout  the  country.  I  am  not  called  to 
pronounce  any  opinion  on  the  character  of  Cromwell.  Sup- 
posing him  to  have  been  as  detestable  a  hypocrite  as  many 
are  disposed  to  imagine,  his  very  hypocrisy  is  a  testimony 
to  the  strong  and  widely  diffused  religious  spirit  of  the  times. 
He  saw  no  other  way  to  power  than  by  assuming  the  pre- 
vailing religious  sentiment;  but  whatever  may  have  been  his 
personal  character,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  his  court  was  a 
model  of  moral  propriety — that  he  was  the  patron  of  most 
able  men — Milton,  Blake,  Owen,  &c., — that  he  was  the  en- 
courager  of  learning,  making  a  present  of  valuable  oriental 
MSS.  to  the  University  of  Oxford — and  granting  permission 
for  the  paper  used  in  the  pr-inting  of  Walton's  Polyglott  to 
pass  free;  above  all,  that  he  was  the  defender  of  the  in- 
terests of  Protestantism  throughout  the  world.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Croly,  Rector  of  St.  Stephen's,  London,  has  well  said  in  his 
preface  to  his  New  Interpretation  of  the  Apocalypse,  "  What- 
ever was  in  the  heart  of  the  Protector,  the  declared  policy  of 
his  government  was  Protestantism.  His  treasures  and  his  arms 
were  openly  devoted  to  the  Protestant  cause  in  France,  and 
Italy,  and  throughout  the  world.  He  was  the  first  who 
raised  a  public  fund  for  the  reUef  of  the  Vaudois  churches. 
He  sternly  repelled  the  advances  which  Popery  made  to 
seduce  him  into  the  path  of  the  late  king.  England  was  in- 
stantly lifted  on  her  feet  as  by  miracle — all  her  battles  were 
victories — France  and  Spain  bowed  before  her — all  her  ad- 
ventures were  conquests — she  laid  the  foundation  of  her 
colonial  empire,  and  extended  that  still  more  illustrious  com- 
mercial empire  to  which  the  only  limits  in  either  space  or 
time  may  be  those  of  mankind.  She  rapidly  became  the 
most  conspicuous  power  in  Europe,"  &c.  But  the  reign  of 
Cromwell  is  at  an  end,  and  now  the  Church  of  Scotland  has 
to  prepare  for  new  trials — among  the  severest  perhaps  Avhich 
a  Christian  Church  was  ever  called  upon  to  sustain.  'I'hough 
the  power  of  the  Church  had  been  considerably  weakened 
by  the  sad  divisions  which  prevailed  among  the  clergy,  un- 
der the  names  of  Resolutioners  and  Protesters — divisions 
which,  to  Cromwell,  it  is  said,  were  worth  twenty  thousand 
armed  men;  still,  the  ministers  were  very  powerful,  as 
powerful  almost  as  any  priests  of  the  Church  of  Rome  are 
now.  And  what  was  the  source  of  their  power?  Not  the 
power  of  superstition,  but  of  the  attachment  which  results 


OF    FRANCE.  279 

from  the  faithful  discharge  of  ministerial  and  Christian  duty. 
In  other  words,  the  power  was  of  the  most  honourable  kind. 
The  people  felt  that  they  had  received  the  most  important 
benefits  from  the  labours  and  sacrifices  of  their  pastors ;  and 
could  not  fail  to  respect,  and  love,  and  serve  them  in  every 
possible  way.  But  the  great  Adversary  of  God  and  of  man 
had  been  sorely  provoked  with  the  progress  and  triumph  of 
true  religion  during  the  last  twenty  years.  He  grudged  the 
many  souls  who  were  in  that  period  gathered  into  the  granary 
of  heaven;  and  v/orldly  men  hated  the  restraints  and  disci- 
pline of  a  Christian  and  Presbyterian  Church.  So  long  as 
evangelical  religion  is  greatly  in  the  minority  in  any  country, 
the  irreligious  can  bear  it;  but  when  it  rises  into  the  ma- 
jority, and  crosses  their  path  as  in  the  matter  of  Sabbath  ob- 
servance, or  any  other  important  part  of  Church  discipline, 
they  cannot  tolerate  it,  and  so  endeavour  to  hem  it  into  a 
corner,  or  to  restrain  it  by  persecution.  It  is  popular  when 
it  is  weak:  it  is  hateful  when  it  is  strong.  There  are  not  a 
few  facts  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ  which  coun- 
tenance this  explanation — and  the  experience  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  in  the  middle  of  the  17th  century,  is  one  of 
them.  God,  too,  would  try  the  faith  and  patience  of  his 
saints  more  severely  than  they  had  yet  been  tested.  The  keen 
dissensions  which  prevailed  among  his  ministering  servants 
indicated  a  proud  spirit,  which  needed  to  be  humbled  ;  while 
suffering  is  one  of  the  means  of  melting  into  one  those  who 
may  have  been  long  asunder.  Hence  persecution  received 
its  commission,  and  most  unmerciful  was  its  progress ;  but 
it  taught  lessons  which  it  would  have  been  ditBcult  other- 
wise to  convey.  I  can  only  refer  to  a  few  leading  outlines 
of  the  history. 

The  Scottish  people,  wearied  with  the  usurpation  of  Crom- 
well, and  feeling  themselves  committed  to  the  royal  family 
by  the  covenant  which  they  had  sworn,  and  Charles  II.  hav- 
ing in  the  most  solemn  manner  taken  that  engagement,  and 
pledged  himself,  as  they  thought,  to  future  justice,  and  ho- 
nour his  restoration,  was  welcomed  with  the  most  cordial 
and  universal  joy.  A  party  of  Anabaptists  collected  a  large 
sum  of  money,  and  formed  a  plot  against  the  life  of  the  king 
— being  opposed  in  principle  to  monarchy — but  they  were 
easily  crushed,  and  all  parties  vied  with  each  other  in  the 
demonstration  of  their  attachment  to  the  recovered  prince. 
The  Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  entered  the  following  reso- 
lution in  their  books:— "The  Presbytery  being  sensible  of 


280 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


the  great  mercy  of  God  towards  these  lands,  in  breaking  the 
yoke  of  the  usurper's  tyranny  and  oppression  off  the  neck 
of  his  people  in  these  kingdoms,  and  restoring  to  us  our 
rightful  dread  Sovereign,  and  his  Majesty's  lawful  govern- 
ment, and  being  very  willing  to  evidence  and  testify  on  every 
occasion  their  loyalty  and  cordial  affection  which  they,  with 
the  people  of  God,  have  always  borne  towards  his  Majesty's 
person  and  government,  and  the  person  and  government  of 
his  royal  predecessor,  hath  appointed  that  every  minister  of 
this  Presbytery  shall,  next  Lord's  day,  warn  the  people  to 
be  assembled  solemnly  on  the  29th  of  May,  for  hearing  ser- 
mon, giving  thanks  to  God  for  restoring,  in  great  mercy, 
our  king  to  his  just  right,  and  for  praying  for  blessings  to  his 
person  and  government,  and  that  he  may  be  more  and  more 
fitted  to  be  a  blessed  instrument  for  preserving  and  promoting 
the  truth  of  religion  in  these  lands ;  and  withal,  that  they  do 
prudently  inform  their  several  people  that  the  observation  of 
such  days  for  commemoration  of  such  a  singular  mercy,  doth 
not  impart  any  holiness  to  the  day,  such  as  God  himself  hath 
put  upon  the  Sabbath  day,  which  none  but  God  himself  can 
put  upon  any  day."  This  is  an  excellent  appointment,  in- 
dicating at  once  enlightened  loyalty  and  religion  ;  and  similar 
appointments  seem  to  have  been  universal.  The  Presbytery 
of  Cupar,  thankful  to  the  Lord  for  delivering  the  king  without 
blood,  in  such  an  unexpected  manner,  resolve  to  hold  a  day, 
with  as  great  thankfulness,  joy,  and  gladness,  '^  as  can  pos- 
sibly be." 

Surely  a  people  so  loyal,  confiding,  and  religious,  deserved 
well  at  a  monarch's  hand  !  They  were  not  unreasonable  or 
impracticable.  But,  alas  I  scarcely  is  Charles  seated  on  the 
throne,  before,  like  a  thorough  Papist — which  he  truly  was — 
he  violated  all  his  oaths,  and  proceeded,  by  the  most  violent 
means,  to  overthrow  the  Presbyterian  Establishment  which 
he  had  sworn  to  uphold.  Ere  the  year  was  out,  that  Estab- 
lishment might  virtually  be  said  to  be  at  an  end.  In  reading 
the  history,  one  is  struck  with  the  rapidity  of  the  change. 
The  joy  of  the  Restoration  seems  to  have  intoxicated  and 
blinded  the  people.  Surely  the  result  shows  the  powder 
which  wicked  men,  at  least  for  a  season,  may  wield  without 
restraint,  and  how  necessary  it  is  that  the  national  patriotism 
be  ever  kept  alive  and  enlightened.  We  are  ready  to  ask, 
where  are  the  men  who,  in  the  days  of  Charles  L,  were 
banded  together  as  one  man  by  their  Solemn  League,  and 
who  determined  the  fate  of  England?     The  answer  is,  very 


OF    FRAXCE.  281 

many  of  them  had  left  this  earthly  scene  of  warfare,  and 
their  spirit  was  not  fully  inherited  by  their  sons.  Not  a  few 
of  the  gentry  did  not  remain  faithful  like  the  ministers ;  and 
above  all,  there  was  no  civil  war,  as  before,  to  divide  the 
forces  of  the  king  and  country.  Scotland  had  to  bear  the 
brunt  of  English  power  alone,  and  this  was  too  heavy  for 
her,  especially  after  past  and  severe  losses.  Had  it  not  been 
for  these  adverse  circumstances,  and  the  feeling  of  hopeless- 
ness which  they  created,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  there 
would  have  been  the  same  resistance  in  the  days  of  the  son 
as  of  the  father — against  Charles  II.  as  Charles  I.  The 
leading  agents  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Church,  and  the  per- 
secution of  its  ministers  and  members,  were,  in  point  of  cha- 
racter, worthy  of  the  mission  on  which  they  were  employed. 
While  they  belonged  to  a  party  which  boasted  of  its  chivalry 
and  honour,  they  were  noted  for  the  basest  treachery  and 
falsehood,  and  the  meanest  avarice — for  practices  of  which 
the  poorest  Covenanter  would  have  been  ashamed.  They 
gloried  in  wickedness  and  debauchery,  impressively  pro- 
claiming what  were  the  real  grounds  of  their  hatred  to  a 
Presbyterian  Christian  Church,  whatever  might  be  the  osten- 
sible."^ It  may  be  safely  said,  that  there  is  no  hatred  of  the 
light  so  great,  as  that  which  proceeds  from  the  conscious- 
ness that  the  deeds  are  evil,  and  cannot  stand  its  scrutiny. 

The  steps  taken  for  the  destruction  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, and  with  it,  of  evangelical  religion,  were  as  rapid  and 
comprehensive  as  they  were  unprincipled  and  violent.  The 
Scottish  Parliament,  which  had  been  prepared  to  the  hands 
of  the  king,  met  in  the  beginning  of  1661,  with  Middleton, 
as  royal  commissioner,  at  its  head.  The  first  measure  was 
an  oath  of  allegiance,  which  involved  the  supremacy  of  the 
kina  in  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  civil  causes;  in  other  words, 
whi^ch  struck  at  the  Headship  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  next 
measure  was  the  Act  Rescissory,  which  at  one  blow  can- 
celled all  the  excellent  reformation  legislation  of  the  previous 
twenty  years.  The  step  which  followed  placed  the  external 
policy  and  government  of  the  Church  among  the  inherent 
rights  of  the  crown ;  and,  as  a  very  appropriate  sequence, 
next  moment  created  the  bishops,  and  invested  xhern  with 
all  their  former  privileges  and  jurisdictions.  All  the  acts  of 
the  covenanted  Reform'aiion  were  next  declared  to  be  trea- 
sonable and  rebellious ;  and  shordy  after,  the  Solemn  League 
and  Covenant,  which  at  one  time  most  of  the  members  of 


282  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

Parliament  had  taken  with  hands  uplifted  to  heaven,  was 
condemned  to  be  burnt  by  the  common  executioner.  In 
short,  measures  were  passed  which  involved  the  absolute 
authority  of  the  king  over  both  church  and  nation — an  au- 
thority which  dethroned  the  Redeemer,  and  swallowed  up 
all  the  rights  of  the  subject.  The  reader  will  not  wonder 
to  learn,  what  is  a  melancholy  fact,  that  not  a  few  of  the 
members  of  Parliament  who  passed  such  acts  were  habitual^ 
ly  intoxicated,  and  that  the  proceedings  had  again  and  again 
to  be  adjourned,  owing  to  the  gross  drunkenness  of  the  royal 
commissioner.  When  the  poor  Presbyterians  assembled  in 
their  Church  Courts  to  protest  and  petition  against  these  ar- 
bitrary and  most  despotic  measures,  they  were  broken  up 
and  dispersed  as  rebellious  and  treasonable ;  and,  by  an  act 
of  Privy  Council,  passed  when  all  the  members  were  in  a 
state  of  intoxication,  between  three  hundred  and  four  hun- 
dred ministers  were  driven  out  of  their  charges,  and  all  the 
remainder  were  required  to  receive  collation  at  the  hands  of 
the  bishops.  The  madmen  who  made  such  enactments,  judg- 
ing of  others  by  themselves,  thought  that  no  minister,  when 
his  living  was  at  stake,  would  hesitate  to  sacrifice  conscience 
to  convenience:  but  they  were  remarkably  deceived.  The 
principle  and  self-denial  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers  on  this 
occasion  are  highly  honourable.  They  manifested  the  same 
spirit  as  their  brethren  in  England,  two  thousand  of  whom 
were  ejected  in  a  single  day,  for  conscience'  sake,  at  the  same 
period;  and  in  Ireland,  when  of  sixty-nine  ejected  in  the 
province  of  Ulster,  only  seven  conformed  to  Prelacy.  What 
a  contrast  was  this  to  the  conduct  of  the  Episcopal  clergy  in 
the  reign  of  Mary  and  her  sister  Elizabeth !  Out  of  the 
nine  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifteen  Avho  had  been  minis- 
ters under  the  popish  and  bloody  Mary,  only  two  hundred 
and  three  refused  to  conform  to  the  views  and  wishes  of  the 
Protestant  EHzabeth.  What  a  grievous  absence  must  there 
have  been  of  the  high  religious  principle  which  animated 
the  poor  Presbyterians  of  Scotland;  and  yet  there  are  men 
who  have  not  praises  ample  enough  for  the  one,  nor  censure 
and  contempt  keen  enough  for  the  other!  I  may  just  add, 
that  the  places  of  the  ejected  ministers  were  supplied  by  raw, 
ignorant — many  of  them  immoral — young  men  from  the 
Highlands — men,  of  whom  even  bishop  Burnet  says,  *'  They 
were  the  worst  preachers  I  ever  heard  :  they  were  ignorant, 
and  a  reproach,  and  many  of  them  openly  vicious  :  they  were 
a  disgrace  to  their  orders  and  their  sacred  functions,   and 


OP  FRAWCE,  283 

were  indeed  the  dregs  and  refuse  of  the  northern  parts !" 
And  these  are  included  in  the  "apostolic  succession,"  of 
which  so  many  of  the  English  Church  now-a-days  make 
a  boast!  Sir  Walter  Scott,  whom  no  one  will  suspect  of 
saying  any  thing  harsh  of  Scottish  Episcopacy,  states  in  his 
History,  that  a  gentleman  in  the  north  regretted  the  ejection 
of  the  Presbyterian  ministers,  because  it  deprived  the  coun- 
try of  herd-boys.  What  a  contrast  to  the  able  and  faithful, 
and  'learned  and  beloved  men  who  had  been  dispossessed, 
and  of  whom  Burnet  says,  "  They  were  related  to  the  chief 
families  in  the  country,  either  by  blood  or  marriage,  and  had 
lived  in  so  decent  a  manner,  that  the  gentiy  paid  great  re- 
spect to  them."  It  would  have  been  strange  if  the  people 
of  Scotland  had  tamely  put  up  with  the  substitution  of  the 
one  for  the  other,  and  been  contented  with  the  curates.  To 
this  they  could  never  agree.  Accordingly  they  deserted  the 
churches  in  thousands,  flocking  to  their  own  ministers,  now 
more  endeared  to  them  than  ever.  The  effect  of  this  again 
was  to  lead  to  enactments  against  holding  conventicles — that 
is,  meetings  for  the  public  worship  of  God,  which,  being 
generally  disregarded,  the  Government  was  at  once  brought 
into  collision  with  the  people;  and  wide-spread  and  fierce 
persecution  began. 

I  shall  not  sicken  myself  or  the  reader  by  entering  on  the 
bloody  details  of  nearly  thirty  years  of  persecution  which 
followed.  I  shall  not  speak  of  the  different  and  successive 
inventions  of  cruelty — the  courts  of  almost  popish  inquisition 
which  were  reared — the  letters  of  intercommuning — the 
quartering  of  lawless  soldiers  on  the  suspected — the  High- 
land host.  I  shall  not  speak  of  the  fines,  often  amounting 
to  oppressive  sums,  sometimes  £2000,  nay,  £8000  sterling, 
of  imprisonment — of  confiscation — of  the  instruments  of  tor- 
ture— of  the  forms  of  violent  death — of  perpetual  banishment 
to  foreign  shores — above  all,  of  multiplied  oaths  and  tests  to 
involve  men  of  conscience  in  the  guilt  of  perjury— to  them 
worse  than  a  capital  execution — of  the  deaths  from  broken 
hearts*  The  cruelties  were  savage — worthy  of  cannibals; 
ihey  were  refined — worthy  of  fiends.  Even  Sir  Walter 
Scott  repeatedly  says  that  they  seemed  as  if  suggested  by 
Satan.  The  result  of  the  whole  was,  that  in  twenty-eight 
years,  in  a  small  and  poor  country  like  Scotland,  there  were 
above  twenty  thousand  persons,  of  all  ranks  and  conditions, 
and  both  sexes,  brought  under  the  grinding  oppression  of 
the  persecution.     Hundreds  and  thousands  lost  their  lives  by 


284 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


it.  What  an  appalling  picture  !  The  whole  number  of  mar- 
tyrs thoughout  England,  under  the  reign  of  the  bloody  Mary, 
was  about  four  hundred;  and  the  number  of  sufferers  under 
Elizabeth  was  sixty;  but  here  are  twenty  thousand  suffering 
in  a  far  smaller  population;  and  what  is  more  wonderful, 
suflerers  by  the  hands  of  professing  Protestants — Christian 
brethren!  While  1  shun  details,  I  must  give  the  reader  one 
or  two  extracts,  which  may  enable  him  to  conceive  in  a 
general  way,  of  the  measures  which  were  pursued.  I  select 
the  extracts  from  the  writings  of  men  whose  ancestors  were 
pre-eminent  sufferers  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 

"By  degrees  the  whole  frame  of  Government  seemed  con- 
verted into  one  vast  court  of  Inquisition,  in  which  the  Epis- 
copal clergy,  of  all  ranks,  held  a  conspicuous  place  as  infor- 
mers, witnesses,  or  judges.  Of  fining  and  imprisoning  there 
was  scarcely  any  cessation.  From  the  privy  councillor 
down  to  the  common  soldier,  pillage  was  the  universal  prac- 
tice. Multitudes,  who  had  possessed  a  comfortable  abun- 
dance, or  who  had  lived  in  affluence,  were  stripped  of  their 
entire  property,  and  became  houseless  Avanderers.  The 
prisons  of  the  kingdom  were  often  crowded  to  excess,  and 
although  death  was  continually  removing  numbers  of  prison- 
ers by  the  cruel  treatment  to  which  they  were  subjected, 
and  by  the  busy  hands  of  the  executioner,  it  was  frequently- 
necessary  to  make  room  for  new  companies,  by  banishing 
hundreds  to  foreign  plantations,  where  many  of  them  were 
sold  into  perpetual  slavery.  By  what  were  termed  letters 
of  inter  communing,  issued  by  the  Government,  great  num- 
bers, both  of  ministers  and  of  private  Christians,  were  pro- 
claimed ouflawfi,  and  cut  off  from  the  common  rites  of  hos- 
pitality. In  such  cases  it  was  declared  to  be  a  capital  crime 
to  hold  any  communication  with  these  persons  by  word  or 
writing,  to  afford  them  food  or  lodging,  or  the  smallest  relief 
and  assistance ;  no  exception  being  made  in  favour  of  those 
who  stood  in  the  nearest  relation  to  them.  According  to 
this  law,  if  an  individual  was  denounced  by  Government  as 
having  been  guilty  of  hearing  a  sermon  in  the  field,  the 
nearest  relative  could  not  offer  him  a  morsel  of  bread,  but  at 
the  hazard  of  life.  To  establish  the  crime  of  treason,  it  was 
not  necessary,  in  the  more  advanced  state  of  this  persecu- 
tion, to  prove  any  act  of  resistance  to  the  law,  nor  even  to 
find  evidence  of  an  intention  to  resist  the  law,  however  tyran- 
nical: the  opinions  of  the  persecuted  Covenanters  were  pro- 
nounced treason. 


OF    FRANCE.  285 

"By  all  the  various  tribunals  which  were  erected,  mul- 
titudes were  condemned  to  die  for  owning  the  obligation  of 
the  Covenants — for  refusing  to  acknowledge  the  king's  ec- 
clesiastical supremacy — for  avowing  the  sentiment,  that  it  is 
lawful  in  subjects  to  make  resistance  to  'tyrannical  Govern- 
ments— for  refusing  to  call  the  death  of  Archbishop  Sharpe 
murder — or  the  rising  at  Pentland  or  at  Bothwell  rebellion. 
Neither  was  it  deemed  always  requisite  for  convicting  an 
offender,  that  competent  witnesses  should  be  produced  against 
him,  whether  it  was  before  the  supreme  court  of  justiciary 
that  any  suspected  person  was  arraigned,  or  one  of  tlie  circuit 
courts,  or  a  sheriff,  or  his  deputy,  or  his  under-deputy,  or  a 
military  officer:  the  pannel  was  interrogated,  first,  in  regard 
to  his  conduct,  and  next,  in  regard  to  his  opinions.  If,  on 
these  heads,  nothing  was  elicited,  he  was  immediately  re- 
quired to  take  the  test,  or  the  current  oath  of  the  day;  and 
if  the  fear  of  God  would  not  allow  him  to  renounce  his  prin- 
ciples by  compliance,  the  process  was  immediately  closed. 
He  might,  perhaps,  in  the  first  instance,  be  deprived  of  all 
his  property,  and  shut  up  in  prison,  or  sent  to  the  Bass  (a 
barren  rock  near  the  entrance  of  the  Firth  of  Forth ;)  but  at 
one  period  of  the  persecution,  such  an  examination  was  fre- 
quently followed  by  a  speedy  execution.  Even  the  common 
soldier  was  at  last  permitted  to  adopt  the  same  mode  of  trial 
in  the  case  of  any  person  whom  he  suspected,  or  pretended 
to  suspect,  of  disloyalty — and,  having  his  eye  on  the  plunder, 
to  become  at  once  witness,  judge,  and  executioner."  The 
above  is  from  an  official  document — " 'i'he  Historical  Part 
of  the  Testimony  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Scotland.  1839."  The  next  extract  is  from  an  unpublished 
account  of  a  man  in  respectable  life — Alexander  Reid,  tenant 
in  Broxburn,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  the  persecution,  and  who 
was  exposed  to  its  violence.  It  is  but  a  few  years  ago  that  his 
narrative  has  become  accessible.  He  says,  "  Our  persecution 
grew  aye  the  hotter  and  hotter — the  devil  raging  in  wicked 
men,  for  his  time  was  to  be  but  short.  Searches  were  made 
through  all  the  country  where  they  heard  any  of  those  whom 
they  called  rebels  haunted,  many  falling  into  their  hands,  and 
they  taking  their  lives  in  a  cruel  manner,  not  suffering  them 
to  speak  on  the  scaffold,  yea,  some  not  to  read,  pray,  or  sing 
psalms:  took  some  of  their  lives  soon  in  the  morning,  some 
late  at  night;  some  taken  away  to  the  scaffold  as  soon  as 
ever  they  got  their  sentence.  Great  searches  were  in  Edin- 
burgh— the  ports  closed — guards  set  round  about  the  town 


286  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

several  limes,  because  many  persecuted  people  came  lurking 
privately  in  the  town;  for. their  cruelty  went  so  on,  that  they 
took  men's  lives  for  their  opinion,  although  they  had  been 
in  no  action ;  and  not  only  men's  lives,  but  women's  also  for 
their  opinion.  Two  young  women  suffered  in  the  town  of 
Edinburgh — for  they  raged  more  and  more.  There  was  one 
great  search  which  I  narrowly  escaped  from  the  enemy's 
hands.  1  went  to  an  uncle's  house  near  the  West  Kirk,  and 
continued  there  all  night.  In  the  morning  when  we  rose, 
there  was  a  guard  standing  at  the  door.  My  aunt  cried  that 
we  would  all  be  ruined,  which  was  true  according  to  their 
law,  for  those  that  haunted  them  were  in  danger  as  well  as 
those  that  haunted  with  them.  1  desired  her  to  hold  her 
peace,  and,  putting  on  a  mealy  coat  of  my  uncle's,  got  safely 
without  the  guard,  and  went  to  the  country." 

Such  are  general  but  faithful  descriptions  of  the  persecu-^ 
tion  of  the  Church  of  Scodand.  It  came  nearer  in  horror 
to  the  bloodiest  scenes  in  the  persecution  of  the  Church  of 
France,  tlian  the  sufferings  of  any  other  Church  since  the 
Reformation.  Indeed,  a  peculiar  severity  appears  to  have 
been  the  lot  of  Presbyterian  Christian  Churches.  It  would 
seem,  that  in  the  extent  and  strength  of  their  religious  prin- 
ciple, they  have  presented  a  greater  amount  of  unyielding 
resistance  than  other  bodies;  while  their  Church  government 
and  discipline,  founded  as  they  are  on  the  Word  of  God, 
peculiarly  irritate  and  provoke  the  ungodly  mind,  especially 
wicked  civil  rulers,  who  imagine  that  such  a  form  of  govern- 
ment is  in  various  ways  at  war  with  their  power.  There 
are  some  periods  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  ScoUand, 
where  the  records  are  scanty  and  the  impressions  compara- 
tively faint.  But  it  is  not  so  with  the  sad  period  which  we 
have  been  contemplating.  Its  memorial  is  written  in  blood — 
in  relics,  and  monuments,  and  traditions,  which  will  never 
die.  There  are  cases  of  martyrdom  surpassing  in  interest 
all  that  romance  ever  feigned.  The  execution  of  the  youth- 
ful Hugh  M'Kail,  and  his  farewell  to  the  world;  the  slaugh- 
ter of  John  Brown,  the  Christian  carrier,  in  the  presence  of 
his  wife  and  children,  in  the  act  of  prayer,  by  the  hand  of 
the  bloody  commander,  when  even  the  soldiers  declined  the 
deed ;  and  the  drov.'ning  of  the  two  faithful  females  in  the 
advancing  tide  of  the  ocean — will  never  be  forgotten  so  long 
as  Scodand  remains  a  country.  Prejudiced  writers  may  at- 
tempt to  misrepresent  the  characters,  and  explain  away  the 
grounds  of  the  struggle ;  but  the  effort  is  vain.     Nay,  these 


OP    FRAjSCE.  287 

very  assaults  will,  as  heretofore,  only  lead  to  a  more  tho- 
rough study,  and  a  more  just  and  universal  appreciatioft. 
But  while  the  memory  of  the  Scottish  martyrs  is  devoutly 
and  affectionately  cherished  by  their  descendants,  it  were 
well  that  the  members  of  the  Church,  at  whose  instigation, 
in  a  great  measure,  the  oppression  and  the  bloodshed  were 
perpetrated,  would  bethink  them  of  their  responsibility,  and 
confess  the  sins  of  their  Church  in  other  days.  A  divine 
blessing  can  scarcely  be  expected  on  their  Church,  while 
such  a  slaughter  of  the  saints  of  God  remains  publicly  un- 
confessed  and  unbe  wailed. 

Let  it  not  be  said  that  the  Scottish  Presbyterians  rose  in 
rebellion  against  the  civil  authority  of  the  kingdom.  There 
were  three  or  four  risings  in  the  course  of  thirty  years;  but 
the  patience  and  submission,  when  it  is  considered  how  much 
was  at  stake,  is  almost  incredible.  The  sufferers  were  con- 
tending, not,  as  it  has  been  ignorantly  or  wilfully  misrepre- 
sented, like  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Ireland  at  the  present 
day,  against  the  pecuniary  demands  of  an  adverse  Church. 
No.  It  was  no  contest  about  Church  property;  it  was  a 
struggle  fur  the  rights  of  conscience — the  freedom  to  wor- 
ship God  according  to  the  forms  and  ordinances  of  the  Church 
of  their  fathers;  in  other  words,  it  was  the  question  of — 
Christ  or  Antichrist.  It  was  not  wonderful  that,  when  these 
rights  were  usurped,  men  should  resist.  There  is  a  limit  in 
submission  where  endurance  becomes  criminal;  but  assuredly 
the  suffering  Church  erred  on  the  side  of  submission.  Even 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  History  of  Scotland,  can  say,  "  In 
danger,  want,  and  necessity,  the  inhabitants  of  the  wilder- 
ness, and  expelled  from  civil  intercourse,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
we  find  many  of  these  wanderers  avowing  principles  and 
doctrines  hostile  to  the  Government  which  oppressed  them, 
and  carrying  their  resistance  beyond  the  bounds  of  mere  self- 
defence."  Their  lengthened  patience  is  far  more  astonishing 
than  their  occasional  outbreakings  under  the  most  intolerable 
violence.  And  even  though  their  spirit  and  conduct  had  not 
been  so  justifiable  as  they  arc,  yet  who  that  considers  how 
unspeakable  have  been  the  advantages,  civil  and  religious, 
which  were  wrought  out  by  their  firmness  and  perseverance, 
can  doubt  that  they  are  well  entided  to  the  gratitude  and  es- 
teem of  every  patriot  and  every  Christian.  Though  they 
did  not  succeed  in  their  risings,  or  the  success  was  only  tem- 
porary— generally  leading  to  severer  inflictions — yet  the 
courage  and  constancy  which  they  manifested,  taught  their 


288 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


oppressors  that  their  principles  could  only  be  destroyed  with 
the  extermination  of  their  persons;  and  such  a  conviction, 
doubdess,  exerted  an  important  influence  in  paving  the  way 
to  their  ultimate  deliverance. 

And  here  I  must  introduce  a  few  observations  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  Covenanters  as  a  whole.  It  serves  greatly  to 
aggravate  the  guilt  of  persecuting  them.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Symington,  of  Paisley,  thus  writes:  "  They  were  distin- 
guished by  strict  morality,  fervent  piety,  and  exemplary 
practice  of  the  private  and  public  duties  of  religion,  and  of 
the  virtues  of  life.  They  cultivated  the  devotion  of  the 
closet,  and  gave  themselves  to  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  to  prayer  in  secret;  and  to  habitual  watchfidness  over 
their  hearts,  and  the  ways  of  providence  and  grace  towards 
them.  They  worshipped  God  in  their  families  daily,  morn- 
ing and  evening,  in  the  exercises  of  praise,  reading  the 
Scriptures,  and  prayer;  and  they  resorted  with  greater  fre- 
quency to  these  duties  on  the  Sabbath.  It  appears  that  the 
Paisley  martyrs  were  thus  employed  when  they  were  appre- 
liended.  Tlie  Covenanters  were  distinguished  by  regular 
attendance  upon  the  public  ordinances  of  religion;  and  it  is 
manifest  from  their  history,  that  they  waited  upon  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  with  special  preparation  and  prayer,  and 
followed  it  up  with  faithful,  personal  self-application.  They 
took  heed  not  only  ivliat,  and  how,  but  wJiom  they  heard. 
They  would  not  wait  upon  the  ministrations  of  the  curates, 
regarding  them  as  not  properly  appointed,  and  many  of  their 
services  as  unauthorized  in  the  Scriptures ;  nor  would  they 
give  countenance  even  to  those  ministers  whom  they  con- 
sidered, by  accepting  indulgences,  to  have  made  a  compro- 
mise of  the  authority  and  the  independence  of  their  ministry. 
They  cherished  a  profound  respect  for  the  ministry  of  the 
Word,  and  often  waited  upon  it  with  great  personal  sacrifice 
and  hazard.  The  Sabbath  was  held  peculiarly  sacred  by  the 
sufferers  of  these  times.  They  kept  it  holy,  and  opposed, 
by  their  sentiments  and  practice,  the  violation  of  it  by  civil 
employments  or  amusements.  The  abuses  of  the  Sabbath 
that  had  prevailed  in  England,  and  under  authority  from  the 
time  of  the  publication  of  the  Book  of  Sports,  they  testified 
against.  The  puritanical  Scottish  Sabbath  is  made  the  jest 
of  the  profane,  and  has  been  held  up  to  ridicule  by  legisla- 
tors in  the  recent  discussions  in  Parliament;  but  it  was  the 
honour  of  our  country.  Would  to  God  we  saw  it  back  again ! 
Besides  waiting  on  the  public  institutions  of  religion,  our 


OF    FRANCE.  289 

fathers  held  private  meetings  for  prayer  and  religious  fellow- 
ship. These  associations  conduced  both  to  cherish  in  their 
hearts  the  principles  of  piety,  and  to  keep  alive  their  zeal  in 
the  public  cause.  They  were  a  great  blessing  to  our  fathers 
when  deprived  of  their  loved  ministers;  and  many,  in  their 
dying  moments,  testified  to  the  enjoyment  they  had  expe- 
rienced when  waiting  on  them.  I  must  not  omit  to  notice 
another  practical  feature  of  character.  The  pious  men  of 
these  times  paid  strict  attention  to  the  religious  education  of 
children.  They  were  painfully  and  conscientiously  diligent 
in  instructing  them  in  Bible  knowledge,  in  Christian  doc- 
trine, and  in  the  nature,  constitution,  and  history  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  in  prayer.  They  were  persons,  too, 
of  correct  morality.  They  were  industrious  in  their  callings, 
Justin  their  transactions,  and  strict  in  their  morality;  and  all 
this  upon  religious  principles.  They  abstained,  indeed,  from 
certain  prevailing  amusements — cards  and  dice,  theatrical 
entertainments,  dancing,  assemblies,  and  such  like;  because 
they  viewed  them  as  inconsistent  with  religion,  and  trenching 
upon  morality.  But  there  is  no  just  reason  to  charge  them 
with  moroseness  and  austerity — the  accusations  which  a 
light  generation  is  ever  ready  to  bring  against  that  unbending 
nonconformity  to  favourite  indulgences,  which  ofl'ends  be- 
cause it  reproves.  They  \vere  not,  indeed,  polished  in  a  Pa- 
risian school ;  but  they  were  distinguished,  not  only  for  stern 
regard  to  integrity  and  zeal  for  religion,  but  for  the  imaffect- 
ed  simplicity  of  their  character  and  manners."* 

It  is  common  for  party  writers  to  attempt  to  take  olf  the 
edge  of  the  sympathy  which  is  due  to  the  suifering  Presby- 
terian ministers  in  Scotland  and  in  England,  by  reminding 
us  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Episcopal  ministers  in  England, 
in  the  days  of  Cromwell,  when  Episcopacy  was  overthrown. 
Now,  that  a  considerable  share  of  suffering  was  endtired  by 
many  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England  at  that  period,  no 
one  who  has  read  good  Bishop  Hall's  tract,  entitled,  "  Hard 
Measure,"  can  doubt.  There  was  indeed  hard  measure 
meted  out  to  not  a  few,  and  every  humane  and  Christian 
heart  must  condemn  such  proceedings.  'J'hey  savoured  too 
much  of  revenge.  But  nothing  can  be  more  unreasonable, 
than  to  compare  the  persecution  undergone  by  the  Episcopal 
ministers  with  that  endured  by  their  Presbyterian  brethren. 
'Ihere  is  no  comparison.    At  the  worst,  the  one  was  inflicted 

*  Vide  an  excellent  discourse,  entitled,  "  The  Blood  of  Faithful 
Martyrs  precious  in  the  sight  of  Christ," 

19 


290 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


with  whips,  the  other  with  scorpions  and  death.  Out  of  the 
ten  tiiousand  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England,  it  never 
could  be  proved  that  more  than  two  thousand  were  deprived 
of  iheir  livings  ;  and  this  number,  it  is  to  be  remembered, 
comprehended  the  ignorant  and  the  scandalous,  who  were  a 
disgrace  to  their  order — who  ought  never  to  have  been  in- 
trusted with  parishes ;  and  these  were  very  numerous. 
Moreover,  those  who  were  displaced  were  allowed  to  retain 
a  fifth  part  of  their  sequestered  livings,  for  their  temporal 
provision.  How  different  the  character  and  condition  of  the 
Presbyterian  sufferers  in  Scotland  and  in  England!  Those 
in  the  former  country  were  almost  one  half  the  entire  Church 
in  number.  In  both  countries  they  were  men  not  of  doubt- 
ful but  of  the  highest  character  and  attainments,  and  no  pro- 
vision whatever  was  made  for  their  support.  How  many  of 
them  were  robbed  of  any  private  properly  which  they  pos- 
sessed of  their  own  !  How  happy  would  they  have  been  to 
have  escaped  so  easily  as  their  Episcopal  brethren !  I  have 
already  referred  to  the  fearful  cruelties  in  Scotland,  under 
the  royal  brothers,  Charles  H.  and  James  H. — to  the  ejec- 
tion of  nearly  four  hundred  faithful  ministers — not  in  a  time 
of  confusion,  such  as  the  civil  wars  in  England,  but  in  days 
of  peace — in  days  of  public  joy  on  the  restoration  of  a  long 
exiled  monarch — and  to  the  nearly  twenty  thousand  sufferers 
to  deprivation  and  death  in  the  same  bloody  reigns.  But  the 
Presbyterians  of  England,  though  less  alHicted  than  their 
Scottish  brethren,  had  their  full  share  of  woe.  The  Act  of 
Uniformity  which  was  passed  in  the  House  of  Commons 
only  by  six  votes,  and  was  strongly  opposed  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  at  once  ejected  two  thousand  of  the  best  ministers 
from  their  churches  and  homes  ;  and  there  were  aggravations 
in  the  cruelty.  It  was  intentionally  passed  at  such  a  period 
of  the  year  as  deprived  the  sufferers  of  the  salary  of  the 
eleven  preceding  months,  for  which  they  had  faithfully  la- 
boured ;  nor  were  they  allowed,  by  keeping  schools  and 
acting  as  tutors  in  private  families,  to  compensate  in  some 
measure  for  the  change  in  their  circumstances :  they  were 
expressly  shut  out  from  such  employments.  With  all  these 
disadvantages,  and  though  tlie  straits  of  many  were  very  se- 
vere, it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  recorded  by  one  who  knew 
them  well — by  Philip,  the  father  of  the  well-known  commen- 
tator, Matthew  Henry,  "  that  he  never  heard  of  a  single 
nonconformist  minister  being  in  prison  for  debt."  Such  was 
the  watchful  providence  of  God  over  his  own  people — su(;h 


OF    FRANCE.  291 

the  Christian  liberality  and  kindness  of  the  friends  whom  He 
raised  up  in  their  behalf.  How  different  the  result  in  the 
case  of  the  agents  of  the  persecution — the  hired  informers 
who  were  employed  in  detecting  the  proscribed  meetings  for 
nonconformist  religious  worship.  Of  them  it  is  related,  that 
the  money  obtained  in  this  way  never  prospered ;  that  being 
spent  in  taverns,  gaming,  and  debauchery,  most  of  the  in- 
formers died  in  prison  or  poverty,  and  not  a  few  were  brought 
to  a  miserable  and  untimely  end.  It  is  a  beautiful  illustra- 
tion of  the  over-ruling  providence  of  God,  that  the  plague 
and  great  fire  of  London  which  were  the  source  of  so  much 
alarm  and  suffering,  and  death  to  multitudes,  were  the  means 
of  bringing  the  afflicted  Presbyterian  clergy  into  public  fa- 
vour and  repute.  While  many  of  their  oppressors  (led  in 
the  hour  of  danger,  they  faithfully  remained  at  their  post, 
and  had  facilities  for  discharging  ministerial  duty  of  which 
they  had  long  been  deprived.  The  public  sympathy  was 
excited  in  their  behalf.  Their  meetings  were  attended  by 
crowds,  and  their  adherents  and  influence  visibly  increased. 
Yet,  strange  to  relate,  such  was  the  blind,  infatuated,  atro- 
cious spirit  of  persecution,  that,  during  the  worst  days  of  the 
plague,  which  cut  off  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  of 
the  metropolis  in  a  few  months,  the  Five  Mile  Act  was  pass- 
ed by  the  Parliament  met  at  Oxford — an  act  intended  to  sepa- 
rate and  banish  the  faithful  ministers  who  were  hazarding 
their  lives  for  the  souls  of  their  fellow-men.  Such  were  the 
oppressions  and  sufferings  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers; — 
and  how  fared  their  people?  The  Rev.  Mr.  Cornish,  in  his 
"  Brief  History  of  Nonconformity,"  gives  the  following 
summary : 

"  It  is  impossible  to  make  an  exact  computation  of  the 
number  of  sufferers,  or  of  the  damages  sustained  by  the  Dis- 
senters in  the  space  of  twenty-five  years,  under  the  reigns  of 
Charles  II.  and  James  II.; — how  many  families  were  re- 
duced to  beggary — how  many  lives  were  lost  in  loathsome 
jails — how  many  pastors  were  driven  from  their  congrega- 
tions, and  forced  to  live  as  they  could,  five  miles  from  them 
or  from  any  corporation  ;  how  many  industrious  tradesmen 
were  cut  off  from  their  employments,  their  substance  plun- 
dered by  rude  soldiers,  and  divided  amongst  idle,  infamous 
informers.  The  vexatious  suits  in  spiritual  courts  also,  and 
the  expenses  attending  them,  were  immense.  One  writer 
quoted  in  the  preface  lo  Delanne's  '  Plea,'  says,  '  That  near 
ci^ht  thousand  perished  in  prison  during  the  reign  of  Charles 


292  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

II.,  merely  for  dissenting  from  the  Church  in  some  points, 
which  they  were  able  to  give  good  reason  for;  and  that, 
within  the  compass  of  three  years,  they  suffered  at  least  in 
their  trades  and  estSiies  two  millioiis.''  Mr.  Jeremy  White 
had  carefully  collected  a  list  of  the  dissenting  ministers  and 
their  sufferings,  with  the  names  of  sixty  thousand  persons, 
who  had  suffered  on  a  religious  account,  between  the  Restora- 
tion and  the  Revolution,  Jive  thousand  of  whom  died  in 
prison.  King  James  offered  him  one  thousand  guineas  for 
this  manuscript,  but  he  resolved  to  conceal  it,  that  it  might 
not  appear  to  the  disreputation  of  the  Church  of  England 
when  in  real  danger.  For  this  generous  conduct  some  of  the 
clergy  thanked  him,  with  the  offer  of  an  acknowledgment, 
which  he  to  his  further  honour  declined  accepting,  though 
not  in  affluent  circumstances.  Besides  those  who  suffered 
at  home,  multitudes  retired  to  Holland  and  America.  Reckon- 
ing the.  dissenting  families  at  that  time  in  England  to  be  no 
more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  (no  extravagant 
computation,)  and  that  each  family  incurred  the  loss  of  three 
or  four  pounds  per  annum,  the  whole  will  amount  to  twelve 
or  fourteen  millions,  a  prodigious  sum  for  these  times !  '  But 
these,'  adds  Mr.  Neal,  '  are  bare  conjectures.  The  damage 
done  to  the  trade  and  property  of  the  nation  was  immense, 
and  the  wounds  made  in  the  estates  of  private  families  were 
deep  and  large,  many  of  whom,  to  my  certain  knowledge, 
wear  the  scars  of  tl)em  to  this  day.'  The  loss  of  such  as 
emigrated,  was  in  some  degree  supplied  by  the  many  indus- 
trious Protestant  refugees,  of  whom  the  abominable  cruelties 
of  Louis  XIV.  and  his  clergy,  drove  from  France,  merely 
on  account  of  their  religion,  since  their  loyalty  was  unim- 
peached.  King  James,  though  a  bigot,  yet,  from  political 
motives,  encouraged  these  valuable  m-embers  of  society  to 
settle  in  his  dominions,  which  they  enriched  by  the  intro- 
duction of  their  manufactories,  and  improved  by  their  virtu- 
ous examples." 

From  these  statements  it  is  abundantly  obvious,  that  while 
the  sufferers  of  no  denomination,  at  any  period  of  British 
history,  are  disparaged — while  the  sincerity  of  all  religious 
sufferers  is  honoured — the  Presbyterians  in  Scotland  and  in 
England  were  the  great  and  leading  witnesses,  even  to  mar- 
tyrdom, for  the  truth  and  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
To  them  the  privilege  spoken  of  by  the  Apostle  Paul  was 
awarded,  "  Unto  you  it  is  given  in  the  behalf  of  Christ,  not 
only  to  believe  on  him,  but  also  to  sutler  for  his  sake." 


OF    FRANCE.  293 

But  to  return  to  the  Church  of  Scotland  under  Charles  II. 
As  in  the  course  of  this  sketch  I  have  frequently  illustrated 
the  character  of  the  Church  from  the  ecclesiastical  records 
of  its  courts,  I  may  mention  a  few  things  which  appear  in 
these  during  the  Episcopacy  persecuting  times  now  under  re- 
view: they  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader.  It  ap- 
pears, then,  that  the  same  sort  of  crimes  existed  as  in  the 
Presbyterian  period — that  witchcraft,  for  instance,  was  com- 
mon, and  was  punished  in  the  same  way.  This  was  not, 
then,  it  would  seem,  a  crime  created  or  fostered  by  Presby- 
terian Church  courts.  It  appears  also,  that  collections  were 
made  for  objects  of  general  utility  and  benevolence.  These 
had  been  very  common  before.  Roads  were  repaired,  and 
bridges  built,  and  harbours  "formed  in  this  way,  as  well  as 
poor  and  deserving  persons  aided ;  and  the  practice  is  still 
continued ;  but  the  contributions  are  fewer  in  number  and 
less  abundant  in  amount,  and  are  often  delayed.  In  some 
cases  the  bursar  seems  still  to  be  maintained  at  college;  and 
there  are  occasional  complaints  against  Popery ;  but  there 
are  few  traces  of  true  religion  in  the  records  to  which  I  have 
had  access.  How,  indeed,  could  there  be  during  a  period 
and  a  policy,  in  reference  to  which  Leigh  ton,  by  far  the  most 
spiritual  man  of  the  Scottish  Episcopal  Church,  declared  on 
abandoniog  his  office,  "  that  he  could  not  concur  in  planting 
the  Christian  religion  itself  in  such  a  manner,  much  less  a 
form  of  government?"  But  while  there  are  few  traces  of 
religion,  there  are  ample  proofs  of  persecution.  Ministers 
were  ordained  to  parishes  without  the  least  concurrence  from 
the  people  being  asked  or  expected — by  "  the  gift  of  the 
Bible  and  the  keys  of  the  Church."  Churches  were  so  de- 
serted that  they  were  shut  up.  The  parishes  of  Edinburgh, 
instead  of  being  multiplied,  were  reduced  in  number.  There 
are  sad  complaints  too,  of  Sabbath-breaking  by  attending 
conventicles ;  but  the  most  impressive  part  of  such  records, 
is  the  lists  of  fines,  &c.  We  are  informed  by  the  author  of 
the  "  History  of  the  Church  of  St.  Cuthbert's,"  who  found, 
chiefly  on  the  Session  Records,  that  "  through  the  whole 
period  of  the  Episcopal  rule,  little  else  is  to  be  found  on  the 
records  but  fines  and  imprisonment,  a  detail  of  which  would 
sicken  rather  than  gratify  the  reader."  He  adds,  that  in 
these  days  one  was  made  an  ofliender  for  a  word ;  an  expres- 
sion of  sympathy  for  the  suffering  brought  down  a  heavy 
fine.  Two  poor  women  are  fined  a  dollar  each,  and  to  be 
imprisoned  till  paid,  because  they  had  said  something  which 


294  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

the  Episcopal  minister  thought  directed  against  him.  It 
may  be  liere  worth  mentioning,  on  the  authority  of  Wod- 
row's  unpublished  Analecla,  that  it  was  only  the  record  of 
the  ("riminal  Court  of  Edinburgh  which  was  regularly  kept. 
As  to  the  other  parts  of  the  country  which  should  have  re- 
ported to  the  metropolis,  "there  were  no  accounts  given  al- 
most in  writing  of  the  fines  that  were  exacted,  for  these 
were  all  pocketed."  What  an  idea  of  rapacity  and  plunder 
does  this  open  up ! 

To  proceed  with  the  history.  Charles  II.  died  in  1685,  a 
period  so  bloody,  that  it  was  called,  by  way  of  eminence, 
"  the  killing  time."  He  was  a  miserable,  perjured,  and  pro- 
fligate Papist — dancing  in  gaiety  and  revelry  at  the  Hague  a 
few  months  after  his  father's  execution — violating  his  oath 
to  his  Presbyterian  subjects,  apparently  on  the  Popish  prin- 
ciple that  no  faith  is  to  be  kept  with  heretics — and  leaving 
many  fruits  of  his  shameless  and  protracted  adulteries  be- 
hind him.  It  was  a  testimony  to  the  character  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  to  be  hated  and  persecuted  by  a  monarch 
of  such  character;  no  great  credit  to  any  professedly  reli- 
gious party  to  have  him  for  their  patron,  and  support,  and 
head.  And  yet  this  man  was  an  encourager  of  the  fine  arts, 
and  not  deficient  in  intellect  and  accomplishment — a  plain 
proof,  surely,  how  insufficient  the  cultivation  merely  of  the 
mental  and  the  tasteful  is  to  secure  the  happiness  of  our  moral 
nature.  But,  though  Charles  was  removed,  there  was  no 
improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  Church  and  nation  un- 
der his  brother  James  II.,  who  succeeded  him.  If  possible, 
matters  became  worse.  He  was  avowedly  what  Charles  was 
half  disguisedly — a  Papist;  and  in  his  private  morals,  like 
his  brother,  was  a  profligate.  His  great  object,  in  the  short 
period  which  he  was  allowed  to  reign,  seemed  to  be,  to  sub- 
vert Episcopacy  and  re-establish  Popery,  probably  as  an 
atonement  for  his  sins.  Charles  had,  by  the  overthrow  and 
oppression  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  tyrannical 
principles  of  government  which  he  had  long  sanctioned,  pre- 
pared for  this.  James  was  but  going  a  step  further,  and 
completing  his  work.  The  moral  retribution,  too,  would 
have  been  just.  But  now  that,  instead  of  a  small  and  re- 
mole  country,  the  w^hole  of  Great  Britain  had  the  revival  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  with  all  her  terrors  and  abominations, 
full  in  sight,  public  sentiment  was  roused  from  its  sleep,  and 
the  Popish  king  was  driven  into  hopeless  exile.  I  have  said 
that  his  object  was  to  restore  Popery.     He  scarcely  made  a 


OF    FRANCE.  295 

secret  of  it.  Indeed,  he  pursued  his  design  with  a  haste, 
and  zeal,  and  recklessness  which  defeated  the  scheme.  The 
first  step,  of  course,  was  to  remove  the  penal  laws  against 
the  Roman  Catholics,  and  so  render  them  eligible  to  offices 
of  power  and  trust.  With  characteristic  Jesuitry,  there  was 
conjoined  with  this  proposal  a  toleration  and  indulgence  for 
the  oppressed  Presbyterians,  both  in  Scotland  and  England. 
Had  they  been  like  many,  after  twenty-eiglit  years  of  suf- 
fering, they  would  have  accepted  the  proffered  boon,  and 
permitted  those  to  feel  the  weight  of  Popery,  who  had 
wounded  them  longer  and  more  grievously  than  even  the 
Church  of  Rome.  But,  under  the  influence  of  that  noble 
religious  principle  which  had  governed  the  Presbyterians  all 
along,  they  declined  the  king's  kindness,  and  joined  with 
the  Episcopalians  in  resisting  Popery  as  a  common  enemy. 
The  Episcopal  party  had  reasons,  apart  from  principle,  for 
strenuously  opposing  a  restoration  of  popery.  The  aristo- 
cracy would,  without  doubt,  have,  ere  long,  lost  the  Church 
lands  which  they  at  present  enjoyed,  and  the  clergy  would 
soon  have  been  deprived  of  their  livings.  We  do  not  say 
that  many,  especially  in  England,  were  not  influenced  by  the 
highest  motives.  Indeed,  the  able  theological  resistance  which 
was  made  to  the  Church  of  Rome  at  this  time,  is  one  of  the 
brightest  passages  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  England. 
To  her  credit  it  deserves  to  be  recorded,  that  in  four  short 
years  her  ministers  published  three  hundred  works,  some  of 
them  of  considerable  size,  against  the  doctrine  and  spirit  of 
the  Church  of  Rome.  Archbishop  Wake  gives  a  list  of 
them ;  and  some  of  them  are  of  leading  importance  at  the 
present  day.  The  Presbyterians  had  previously  delivered 
and  published  their  "  Morning  Exercises,"  or  Course  of  Ser- 
mons against  Popery.  But  there  were  other  motives,  be- 
sides strict  religious  principles,  to  guide  the  ministers  and 
members  of  the  establishment.  It  was  otherwise  wiih  the 
Presbyterians.  Their  temptation  was,  for  present  relief,  to 
go  over  to  the  side  of  the  king;  but  with  noble  disinterest- 
edness they  overcame  the  trial.  As  Christian  men,  they 
hated  Popery  in  every  form.  They  and  their  fathers  had  ex- 
perienced the  bitterness  of  its  real  principles  under  a  Protes- 
tant name;  and  they  would  not  have  others,  it  may  be  after 
generations,  subjected  to  the  same  galling  yoke.  Tliey  clear- 
ly saw,  moreover,  to  use  the  language  of  Mr.  Rcid's  unpub- 
lished narrative,  that  "  a  liberty  granted  lo  all  sorts  of  reli- 
gion in  the  nation,  was  no  less  a  just  object  of  fear  to  all 


296 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


honest  people — thinking  that,  by  making  them  secure,  the 
Papists  might  strengthen  themselves  to  cut  them  all  off." 
Hence  they  vigorously  opposed  Popery,  and  it  was  by  the 
union  of  the  Protestant  interest  that  that  system  of  idolatry 
and  falsehood  was  kept  down,  and  the  glorious  Revolution  of 
1688  accomplished.  Ere  that  could  be  gained,  various  and 
desperate  were  the  efforts  which  James  made,  not  only  to 
release  Popery  from  its  subjection,  but  to  raise  it  to  suprem- 
acy. Vi/'ith  the  utmost  severity  he  punished  the  unsuccess- 
ful rise,  under  his  nephew,  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  in  Eng- 
land, and  the  Earl  of  Argyle  in  Scotland — beheading  both 
the  leaders — casting  even  a  medal  with  the  brutal  emblems 
of  two  trunkless  heads  on  one  side,  and  two  bodies  without 
heads  on  the  other.  About  the  same  time,  those  confined  in 
the  different  prisons  for  religion,  amounting  to  one  hundred 
and  sixty — men,  women,  and  even  children — were  conducted 
like  felons  to  Dunottar  Castle,  and  kept  there  for  weeks,  sub- 
jected to  innumerable  indignities  and  sufferings.  To  this 
day  openings  remain  in  the  walls  of  the  building,  which  in- 
dicate how  little  children  had  been  tortured. 

In  vain  did  James  apply  to  the  Parliaments  of  England 
and  Scotland  to  sanction  his  measures  in  regard  to  the  Ro- 
man Catholics.  Though  both  bodies  had  been  wonderfully 
submissive  before,  and  though  the  king  was  only  calling 
upon  them  to  follow  out  the  principle  of  passive  obedience, 
and  that  the  sovereign  is  responsible  only  to  heaven — prin- 
ciples which  they  had  been  well  taught  by  their  clergy,  and 
which  they  had  acted  upon  with  all  severity  towards  their  Pres- 
byterian brethren — yet  now  that  their  own  interest  is  at  stake, 
and  Popery  is  in  full  view,  they  tremble  at  their  own  cher- 
ished doctrines,  and  turn  aside  from  the  consequences.  The 
king  then  tried  the  army,  the  universities,  the  Churcli,  in 
one  form  or  other,  labouring  for  the  introduction  of  Popery  ; 
but  he  was  defeated  in  them  all.  Seven  bishops  had  the 
courage  to  go  to  the  Tower,  rather  than  comply  with  one  of 
his  orders.  Even  old  friends,  and  some  of  his  own  family, 
turned  from  him  in  the  day  of  trial;  while  the  Pope,  to 
whom  he  sent  an  ambassador,  probably  thinking  that  he  was 
injuring  matters  by  haste,  did  not  receive  him  with  that  wel- 
come which  might  have  been  expected.  Never  was  indi- 
vidual or  sovereign  more  mortified  on  every  hand.  At 
length,  his  son-in-law,  the  Prince  of  Orange,  was  encouraged 
to  come  from  Holland,  and  assume  the  sovereignty;  and 
James,  terrified  lest  the  doom  of  his  father,  Charles  [.,  should 


OF    FRANCE.  297 

await  him,  left  the  throne,  and  Parliament  voted  that  he  had 
abdicated ;  and  William  was  called  to  the  vacant  crown. 
Thus,  one  of  the  greatest  Revolutions  which  was  ever  effect- 
ed, leading  to  the  most  important  consequences,  even  to  un- 
born generations,  was  accomplished  with  scarcely  the  shed- 
ding of  a  drop  of  blood.  The  event  strikingly  proclaims  the 
providence  of  God,  and  the  proclamation  is  still  louder  when 
we  view  it  in  connection  with  the  sufferings  of  the  Protes- 
tants of  France. 

There  can  be  no  question,  that  throughout  the  whole  of 
the  reign  of  Charles  11.,  particularly  towards  its  close,  there 
was  a  decided  progress  to  Popery.  Whether  avowed  by 
the  nation  in  as  many  words  or  not,  such  were  the  tendencies 
of  the  age.  The  result  appeared  in  the  short  reign  of  James. 
Charles'  Popish  marriage,  and  the  Act  of  Parliament  against 
any  calling  his  Majesty  a  Papist,  or  saying  that  he  meant  to 
introduce  Popery — the  addresses  to  the  king  to  banish  the 
the  Jesuits  and  Popish  priest — the  remonstrance  of  Parlia- 
ment, in  1673,  against  James'  Popish  marriage — the  address- 
es against  Charles'  queen,  and  her  Popish  parly,  and  his 
Popish  counsellors — and  the  removal  of  James  for  a  time 
from  the  presence  of  his  brother,  on  the  score  of  Popery — 
all  indicate  the  progress  and  working  of  the  system,  in  spite 
of  the  occasional  blinds  which  were  hung  out  to  deceive  and 
mislead  the  truly  Protestant  people.  Then  it  is  to  be  re- 
membered, that  Louis  XIV.,  at  the  head  of  France,  the  op- 
pressor and  murderer  of  the  French  Protestants,  was  the 
sworn  friend  of  the  royal  brothers,  particularly  of  James. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  cabal  ministry,  in  1670, 
of  whom  Lauderdale,  the  profligate  and  avaricious  persecu- 
tor of  the  Scottish  Presbyterians,  was  one,  were  in  the  pay 
of  France ;  at  least,  their  advice' to  their  sovereign  was  to  get 
money  from  France,  and  rule  without  Parliament.  In  1685, 
Louis  congratulates  James  on  subduing  the  rebels — that  is 
his  own  Protestant  subjects;  and,  in  the  day  of  calamity  and 
terror,  offered  to  send  thirty  thousand  troops  to  aid  in  recover- 
ing his  throne.  When  this  was  hopeless,  he  received  him 
to  the  palace  of  St.  Germain  with  the  warmest  regard,  and 
treated  him  as  a  most  devoted  friend.  A  few  years  before, 
the  French  ambassador  in  London  complained  to  James, 
then  king,  of  a  pamphlet  describing  the  sufferings  of  the 
French  Protestants,  as  a  scandalous  lihcl,  deserving  of  pun- 
ishment.    The  title  is,  "  The  Complaints  of  the  Protestants, 


298 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


cruelly  oppressed  in  the  kingdom  of  France."  It  was  writ- 
ten by  the  eminent  Protestant  minister,  Claude. 

Dr.  Calamy,  inhis  "Life  and  Times,"  states  that  Charles 
IL,  when  in  Paris,  though  strongly  urged,  could  not  be  pre- 
vailed on  to  own  the  French  Protestant  Church,  by  attend- 
ing divine  service  at  Charenton ;  so  that  any  favour  which 
he  may  have  shown  to  any  of  the  refugees  in  this  country, 
is  extremely  suspicious.  Wodrow,  in  his  unpublished  wri- 
tings, states  that  Mr.  Stewart,  a  well  informed  friend,  inform- 
ed him,  that  about  the  latter  part  of  the  king's  reign,  the 
Duke  of  Schomberg's  son — a  leading  Protestant  family — 
was  sent  over  by  the  Protestants  to  represent  their  sufferings 
to  Charles,  and  to  beg  for  his  interposition.  The  king  grant- 
ed him  a  private  audience,  but  his  brother  James  got  behind 
the  hangings,  and  heard  all  that  passed.  When  the  Protes- 
tant returned  to  France,  he  was  immediately  sent  to  the  Bas- 
tile,  or  some  other  place  of  imprisoment.  So  it  was,  that  he 
never  more  was  heard  of. 

All  this  shows  the  close  sympathy  and  connection  which 
subsisted  between  the  Popish  monarchs  of  France  and  Bri- 
tain ;  in  short,  that  they  were  leagued  for  the  advancement 
of  Popery,  so  far  as  circumstances  permitted.  Of  course, 
Louis  was  able  to  act  much  more  openly  and  freely  than  his 
British  friend,  though  James  was  fast  preparing  to  follow  in 
his  steps,  particularly  in  the  purchase  of  Popish  conversions. 
And  now  let  us  mark  what  influence  the  French  Protestants 
had  in  breaking  up  this  Popish  league  at  the  Revolution  of 
1688.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  when  James  ascended 
the  throne,  there  was  no  prospect  of  a  favourable  change — 
that  so  far  from  this,  the  prospects  grew  darker  and  darker; 
and  yet  his  power  became  more  consolidated.  Sir  Walter 
Scott  says — "The  enemies  of  the  monarch  were  so  com- 
pletely subdued,  both  in  Scotland  and  England,  that  no  prince 
in  Europe  seemed  more  firmly  seated  on  his  throne."  The 
very  risings  against  his  authority,  M'hich  he  so  successfully 
extinguished,  tended  to  strengthen  it.  Scotland,  once  the 
foremost  to  rise,  though  she  held  by  her  principles  was  so 
worn  out  by  thirty  years  of  unprecedented  suffering  tliat  she 
was  unable  to  move ;  and  yet  the  danger  of  the  Popish  designs 
of  James  needed  but  to  be  reduced  from  an  abstract  to  a  prac- 
tical form,  to  arouse  the  people  of  Britain.  In  the  poor  per- 
secuted French  refugees  who  came  over  in  hundreds  and  in 
thousands,  and  wandered  all  over  the  country,  the  necessary 


OP    FRANCE.  299 

Stimulus  and  alarm  were  given.     They  were  so  many  wit- 
nesses and  preachers  of  tlie  horrors  of  Popery.     They  told 
the  British  people,  in  a  more  impressive  way  than  could  be 
done  in  broken  words,  what  they  might  expect  on  the  revi- 
val and  re-establishment  of  the  power  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
This  came  in  excellent  time  to  defeat  the  monarch's  plans. 
And  three  years  later,  when  the  Prince  of  Orange  stood  forth 
upon  the  field,  the  same  French  Protestants  appeared  in  a 
new   but   most   important  form.     The  same   hurricane   in 
France,  which  had  driven  so  many  to  tlie  British  shores, 
scattered  not  a  few  to  Holland.     Many  of  them  had  been 
trained  to  arms  in  their  native  country,  and  now  unemployed, 
placed  themselves  under  William.     To  the  usual  courage  of 
their  nation,  they  added  the  fire  of  men  who  had  just  been 
suflfering  for  their  Protestant  faith,  and  who  were  about  to  be 
engaged  in  what  was  really  a  Popish  war.     It  is  easy  to  see 
what  their  spirit  and  resolution  must  naturally  have  been. 
Accordingly,  they  formed  an  important  part  of  the  Dutch 
army,  on  the  presence  of  which  the  fate  of  the  British  Revo- 
lution turned.     "  The  wisdom  and  power  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange,"  says  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  "History  of  Scot- 
land," "?!«?/,  even  the  assistance  of  his  military  force,  were 
absolutely  indispensable  to  the  settlement  of  England,  divid- 
ed as  it  was  by  two  rival  political  parties,  who  had  indeed 
been  forced  into  union  by  the  general  fear  of  James'  tyranny, 
but  were  ready  to  renew  their  dissensions  the  instant  the 
overwhelming  pressure  of  that  fear  was  removed."     Thus 
do  we  see  that  the  French  Protestants,  both  by  the  picture 
of  their  sufferings,  and  by  their  presence  as  soldiers,  exerted 
an  important  influence  on  the   great  Revolution  of  1C88  ; 
and  what  a  mortification  must  this  have  been  to  Louis,  that 
the  very  men  whom  he  had  been  persecuting  as  Protestants 
in  France,  should  appear  upon  a  foreign  shore,  and  aid  in 
defeating  finally,  and,  we  trust,  for  ever,  the  disastrous  de- 
signs of  Popery  upon  the  British  empire;  in  short,  that  his 
ieaaue  should  in  part  be  frustrated  by  his   own  former  sub- 
jects whom  he  hated  and  despised,  and  under  the  leadership, 
too,  of  one  who  had  been  his   most  successful  military  op- 
ponent on  the  Continent!  This,  together  with  the  loss  of  so 
many  of  his  best  subjects,  must  have  been  deeply  g-.illmg  to 
the  proud  patron  of  Popery.     Had  matters  been  otherwise 
ordered— had  the  French  Protestants  not  been  persecuted  so 
severely— or  had  they  not  touched  the  British  soil,  who  can 
tell   humanly  speaking,  how  diflerent  might  have  been  the 


300 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


result  ?  It  is  beautiful  to  see  God  educing  good  to  his  Church 
on  a  great  scale,  from  the  sufferings  of  his  saints  in  a  limited 
quarter.  Even  historians,  who  are  not  accustomed  to  ac- 
knowledge the  providence  of  God,  are  struck  with  the  rapidity 
and  peaceful  manner  in  which  the  Protestant  Revolution  of 
1688  was  accomplished.  Nothing  could  seem  more  unlike- 
ly— the  clouds  were  thickening — the  long  reign  of  persecu- 
tion seemed  to  have  accomplished  its  object  both  in  France 
and  Britain — Christian  men  were  at  their  wits  end;  but 
*'  man's  extremity  proved  to  be  God's  opportunity."  The 
Most  High  interposed,  and  so  disposed  the  hearts  of  men, 
that  in  two  short  years,  the  king,  of  his  own  accord,  fled  to 
a  foreign  land,  at  a  moment  when  his  continued  presence  or 
his  forced  departure  would  have  been  the  source  of  many 
hazards ;  and  for  the  first  time  almost  in  history,  the  heads 
of  two  great  and  keen-spirited  parties  sunk  their  mutual  jeal- 
ousies and  dissensions  in  anxiety  for  the  common  good  of 
the  nation,  and  were  eminently  successful  in  their  delibera- 
tions and  labours  for  this  end.  How  easy  is  it  for  God  to 
extricate  from  the  most  formidable  dangers,  and  at  the  least 
expected  hour ! 


THE  CHURCHES  OF  FRANCE  AND  SCOTLAND  VINDICATED  FROM 
THE  CHARGE  OF  REBELLION— THE  OBJECTIONS  OF  DR.  PUSEY 
CONSIDERED. 

The  Presbyterian  Churches  of  France  and  Scotland  have 
often  been  charged  with  rebellion.  T  have  repeatedly,  though 
incidentally,  referred  to  this  accusation.  But  it  may  be  pro- 
per to  be  a  little  more  full  and  distinct  in  the  answer,  the 
more  especially,  as  Dr.  Pusey,  one  of  the  leaders  in  the 
new  school  of  revived  Popery  in  England,  has,  in  a  very 
strong  manner,  attacked  the  Protestant  Churches  of  France 
and  of  Britain  on  this  score;  and  it  is  to  be  feared  his 
sentiments  and  feelings  are  participated  in  by  no  small 
or  uninfluential  party,  who  generally  range  themselves  un- 
der his  standard.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  that,  prompted 
by  self-defence,  the  Presbyterians  of  France  and  of  Scotland 
have  occasionally  felt  themselves  constrained  to  resist  the 
persecuting  tyranny  to  which  for  many  long  years  they  were 
subjected.  Was  this  unlawful  ?  Dr.  Pusey  and  many  others, 
some  of  them  far  sounder  men,  have  contended  that  it  was 
so — that  in  all  circumstances,  passive  obedience  and  non- 
resistance  are  a  Christian  duty — and  that  in  departing  from 


OF    FRANCE.  301 

this  principle,  they  viohUed  the  law  of  Christ,  and  were 
chargeable  with  rebellion.  He  holds,  that  patience  and  un- 
resisting suffering  are  the  strength  of  the  Church.  Others 
have  quoted  our  Lord's  saying  to  Peter — "  Put  up  thy  sword 
into  its  place,  for  all  they  that  take  the  sword,  shall  perish 
with  the  sword" — attempting  to  show  historically,  that 
where  Christians  have  had  recourse  to  self-defence  in  behalf 
of  their  religion,  they  have  always  been  cut  off  by  the  sword. 
But  Dr.  Pusey,  in  a  recent  sermon  before  the  University  of 
Oxford,  has  gone  greater  lengths  than  any  writer  whom  we 
remember  on  the  same  subject.  He  holds,  that  the  French 
Protestants  were  allowed  to  fall  a  prey  to  the  horrible  Po- 
pish plot  of  St.  Bartholomew,  in  which  sixty  to  seventy 
thousand  were  massacred  in  the  basest  treachery,  "  because 
they  were  an  active,  busy,  scheming  body,  with  worldly 
wisdom;"  and  that  the  Church  and  people  of  England  were 
preserved  from  the  Popish  Gunpowder  Plot,  because  "they 
were  passive."  He  is  pleased  also,  in  his  presumptuous 
interpretation  of  Providence,  to  attribute  the  decline  of  re- 
ligion in  Great  Britain,  in  the  last  century,  to  the  Revolution 
of  1688,  and  to  regard  it  as  an  expression  of  the  judgments 
of  God  on  the  nation  for  dethroning  the  Popish  James!  He 
speaks  of  men  "daring"  to  call  the  Revolution  of  1688  "  a 
glorious  Revolution" — declares  that  we  must  "  disavow" 
the  sins  of  the  men  who  carried  it  through;  and  that,  had 
the  people  "  remained  passive  under  the  shadow  of  God's 
wings,  the  tyranny  had  passed  over;  but  man  interposed 
schemes  of  his  own — they  did  that  which  their  Lord  upon 
the  cross  was  taunted  to  do,  but  did  not — '  they  saved  them- 
selves,' and  so  they  were  permitted  to  mar  the  good  purpose 
of  God."  He  speaks  also  of  the  age  of  Charles  H.,  being 
the  golden  age  of  the  divines  of  the  English  Church,  when 
their  passive  virtues  were  called  forth  and  exercised  by  suf- 
fering; whereas,  the  last  century  was  the  deadest  and  shal- 
lowest period  of  English  theology  and  of  the  English  Church; 
and  that  the  Revolution  of  1688  "ejected  a  valuable  portion 
of  her  members — the  nonjurors — divided  and  so  weakened 
her,"  &c. 

It  would  greatly  and  unnecessarily  swell  this  liitle  work 
to  enter  upon  a  discussion  of  these  and  similar  points. 
There  is  not  one  of  them  which  would  not  admit,  as  an  ob- 
jection, of  a  satisfactory  answer.  Let  me  rather  shortly  ad- 
vert to  the  general  principle  which  is  involved  in  cases  of 
resistance.   No  Christian  doubts  that  in  all  cases  it  is  ilie  great 


302 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


and  imperative  rule  to  submit  to  authority,  however  despotic, 
and  that  it  is  unlawful  and  sinful  to  resist  it;  but  most  Chris- 
tians have  usually  allowed  that  there  are  exceptions  to  this 
rule — that  if  a  Government  commands  what  is  contrary  to, 
or  forbids  what  is  enjoined  by,  the  law  of  God,  it  is  the  duty 
of  subjects  in  these  cases  to  obey  God  rather  tlian  man — 
just  as  parents  and  masters  are  to  be  resisted  when  they  re- 
quire what  is  contrary  to  the  Divine  will.  These,  however, 
are  rare  and  terrible  steps,  which  are  to  be  resorted  to  only 
in  the  clearest  cases,  and  after  all  other  means  have  failed. 
Such,  we  contend,  was  substantially  the  case  on  those  oc- 
casions where  the  Protestant  Presbyterians  of  France  and 
Scotland  betook  themselves  to  arms  against  their  oppressors. 
These  oppressors  forbade  what  God  had  enjoined;  for  in- 
stance, they  denied  them  the  free  exercise  of  public  worship. 
Would  it  have  been  right  here  to  have  obeyed  man,  and  to 
have  abandoned  the  worship  of  God?  The  Christians  of 
France  and  of  this  country  did  not  hastily  rise  in  rebellion. 
They  bore  long,  and  with  pre-eminent  meekness,  all  the 
hardships  and  persecutions  to  which  they  were  exposed. 
They  showed  vasdy  more  forbearance  and  good  temper  un- 
der provocation  than  the  Puseyites  in  controversy,  who  are 
so  forward  to  condemn  them.  It  was  only  when  all  other 
resources  failed,  that  they  betook  themselves  to  the  last  ex- 
tremity ;  and  not  a  few  of  their  reluctant  risings  in  self-de- 
fence were  the  act  of  the  moment,  prompted  not  by  delibe- 
rate design,  but  the  urgency  and  suffering  of  the  occasion. 
These  considerations  surely  go  far,  not  only  to  vindicate 
their  proceedings,  but  to  proclaim  them  worthy  of  approba- 
tion. It  is  no  answer  to  say,  that  Scripture  and  the  primi- 
tive Church  give  no  authority  to,  or  example  of,  resistance 
to  civil  government.  The  cases  to  which  we  refer  are  con- 
fessedly extreme.  Scripture  deals  rather  in  general  princi- 
ples, leaving  the  application  to  enlightened  conscience,  than 
in  minute  details  of  cases,  and  of  all  possible  exceptions  to 
general  rules.  It  does  not  tell  us  to  resist  parents  when  they 
command  what  is  wrong;  yet  this  must  be  taken  for  granted. 
As  Christianity  does  not  deprive  men  of  their  natural  rights, 
of  what  they  possessed  as  men  antecedent  to,  and  indepen- 
dent of,  revelation,  so  the  burden  of  proving  the  obligation 
of  non-resistance  in  every  possible  case,  even  the  clearest 
and  most  atrocious,  obviously  rests  with  Dr.  Piisey  and  his 
friends,  and  those  who  hold  his  sentiments;  and  that  can  be 
done  only  by  their  adducing  from  Scripture  a  direct  prohibi- 


OF    FRANCE.  cUo 

tion  against  Christians  resisting  civil  authority  in  any  case 
whatever.  This  would  establish  the  point,  for  Scripture  is 
supreme,  and  entitled  to  limit  natural  rights;  but  nothing 
else  will  avail.  I  need  scarcely  say,  however,  that  this  is  what 
Dr.  Pusey  does  not  attempt  to  do.  Besides,  in  a  country 
where  Christianity  is  civilly  recognised,  as  it  was  both  in 
France  and  Britain,  men  stand  upon  a  difTercnt  footing  from 
those  who  live  in  a  heathen  country,  like  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, where  Christianity  is  not  tolerated.  In  the  one  case 
there  might  be  such  an  outrageous  violation  of  public  and 
acknowledged  rights,  as  would  warrant  men  in  having  re- 
course to  resistance  as  the  last  and  only  remedy,  while  the 
same  resistance  would  be  quite  unlawful  and  wrong  in  a 
Pagan  country,  where  the  Christians  (Christianity  not  being 
tolerated)  could  have  no  rights,  existed  only  by  sufferance, 
and  so  were  not  entitled  to  run  counter  to  the  known  and 
proclaimed  constitution  of  the  country,  and  endeavour  by 
forcible  means  to  subvert  it. 

With  regard  to  the  primitive  Church,  of  which  Dr.  Pusey 
is  so  much  enamoured,  no  one  who  has  studied  its  character 
and  history,  especially  with  the  lights  which  the  eminent  au- 
thor of  "  Ancient  Christianity"  has  recently  struck  out,  will 
be  disposed  to  place  much  reliance  on  either  its  testimony  or 
example.  It  is  well  known  that  a  fanatical  love  of  suffering 
and  martyrdom  early  appeared  in  the  Church,  which  would 
render  such  proceedings  as  are  condemned  in  the  Protestants 
of  France  and  ScoUand  in  a  great  measure  inapplicable." 

The  earlier  primitive  Church  stood  in  very  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances. Oppressed  and  persecuted,  and  anxious  chiefly 
for  the  faithful  maintenance  of  its  testimony  against  Pagan 
idolatry,  it  is  unfair  to  make  it  the  pattern  for  a  Christian 
community,  whose  condition  is  altogether  differenl;  of  men 
possessed  of  certain  civil  powers  and  privileges.  Who 
knows  but  that,  had  the  early  Christians  been  otherwise  situ- 
ated, they  would  not  have  felt  and  acted  diff'erently  ?  It  is 
highly  probable  that  they  would.  But  whatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  unresisting,  meek  submission  of  the  earlier 
Church,  all  who  are  acquainted  with  ecclesiastical  history 
are  well  aware  that  very  different  was  the  spirit  of  Us  suc- 
cessor. Dr.  Pusey  and  his  friends  are  as  great  admirers  of 
the  Christian  Church  of  ihe  fowih  as  of  the  Ihird  century. 
They  pay  as  much,  perhaps  more,  regard  to  Basil  and  his 
contemporaries,  than  to  Cyprian  and  his  associates.  And 
what  was  the  spirit  of  the  leading  men  of  the  fourth  century? 


304  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

How  did  they  take  the  contempt  and  rough  treatment  of  the 
apostate  Julian,  and  afterwards  of  the  Arian  emperors?  Was 
their  temper  that  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance? 
Were  Basil  and  the  Gregories,  in  addressing  Julian  and 
speaking  of  him,  noted  for  the  mildness  of  the  dove  or  the 
lamb?  Were  they  not  eminent  for  their  bold  arrogance  and 
lawless  contumacy,  so  that  one  wonders  the  Cassars  bore  the 
provocation  so  meekly  ?  Assuredly  the  writings  of  Basil 
and  of  Gregory  indicate  a  spirit  of  resistance^  to  which  we 
shall  find  no  parallel  among  the  persecuted  Presbyterians  of 
France  and  of  Britain.  And  yet  these  are  the  great  autho- 
rities of  the  new  Anglican  school  of  passive  obedience  and 
non-resistance,  and  leading  guides  of  what  is  called  the  pri- 
mitive Church!  If  Dr.  Pusey  and  his  party  will  be  ruled 
by  the  primitve  Church,  let  them  be  fair  and  consistent,  and 
go  the  full  length  of  their  professed  principle.  Let  them 
take  the  primitive  Church  *'  for  better  or  for  worse,"  and  not 
for  the  former  only. 

With  regard  to  the  supposed  good  which  has  resulted  from 
passive  suffering,  and  the  still  greater  amount  of  good  which 
would  have  resulted,  had  there  never  been  any  deviation 
from  it — and  with  regard  also  to  the  alleged  evil  which  has 
been  the  fruit  of  making  use  of  self-defence  in  religion,  it 
must  be  confessed  that  there  is  great  uncertainty  in  such  in- 
terpretations of  Providence.  Many  of  them  are  obviously 
unwarranted  and  presumptuous.  How  does  Dr.  Pusey  know 
that  the  Protestants  of  France  were  allowed  to  be  massacred 
in  thousands,  because  they  were  active,  and  busy,  and  schem- 
ing, as  he  alleges  ?  We  deny  that  such  characteristics  be- 
longed to  them  at  all.  It  is  well  known,  that  for  a  considerable 
time  previous  to  the  massacre,  they  had  been  as  quiet  as 
could  be  desired.  And  how  does  he  know  that  England 
was  saved  from  the  Popish  plot  of  the  5th  November,  be- 
cause she  was  passive  ?  It  is  well  known  that  her  sovereign 
at  that  period,  James  VI.,  the  head  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, was  a  decided  advocate  of  the  duty  of  Christian  sub- 
jects resisting  tyrannous  rulers,  and  aided  foreign  Protestants 
and  encouraged  them  to  rise  against  their  oppressors.  It  is 
not  unknown,  also,  that  in  the  previous  reign,  the  whole 
Convocation  of  the  English  Church  publicly  acknowledged 
it  "glorious  to  assist  subjects  in  their  resistance  to  their 
sovereign,  and  their  endeavours  to  rid  themselves  of  their  ty- 
ranny and  oppressions."  What  were  the  j)unishments  inflict- 
ed on  the  Church  of  England  for  these  incentives  to  rebel- 


OF    FRANCE.  305 

lion  ?  How,  too,  does  Dr.  Pusey  come  to  know  that  the 
irreligion  and  infidelity  of  the  last  century  were  the  punish- 
ment of  the  successfiil  rebellion  of  1688;  and  that,  if  the 
Church  and  country  had  been  passive  in  the  hand  of  God, 
deliverance  would  have  come  from  another  quarter?  These 
are  mere  assumptions — not  very  loyal  to  the  royal  family  at 
present  on  the  throne;  and  there  is  not  the  smallest  attempt 
at  proof.  The  truth  is,  that  the  facts  of  history  in  this  and 
other  cases  warrant  an  entirely  opposite  inference.  It  is 
not  true  that  those  Christians  who  have  been  constrained  un- 
willingly, and  in  direful  extremity,  to  take  the  sword,  have 
perished ;  and  that  those  who  have  practised  passive  obedi- 
dience  and  non-resistance,  have  Uved  and  prospered.  The 
reverse  is  nearer  the  truth.  We  do  not  think  that  the  cau- 
tion of  our  Lord  to  Peter  was  intended  to  convey  the  doc^ 
trine  for  which  it  is  quoted.  Understood  in  this  sense,  it  is 
a  denial  of  the  right  of  self-defence  in  any  circumstances. 
It  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  we  are  neither  to  defend  our- 
selves nor  others  in  cases  of  the  greatest  danger.  But  apart 
from  this,  in  point  of  fact,  Protestantism  has  perished  in 
Italy  and  Spain  where  there  was  no  resistance,  while  it  has 
prevailed  in  France,  and  England,  and  Scotland,  and  Ger- 
many, where  men  defended  themselves  and  their  religion 
against  oppression  and  persecution.  The  cases  referred  to 
by  Dr.  Pusey  are  at  war  with  his  theory.  It  is  imagined 
that  the  doctrine  of  unlimited  passive  obedience  is  favourable 
to  nonconformity  to  the  world  and  high  spirituality;  but  were 
there  any  of  the  "  passive"  periods  of  England,  which  in 
these  respects  could  compare  with  the  "rebellious"  periods 
of  Scotland,  from  1638  to  1649,  and  from  1688  to  1711? 
According  to  this  theory,  after  the  two  rebellions.  Christian 
men  should  have  perished.  Any  religion  which  remained 
should  have  been  tumultuous,  worldly,  political.  Can  any 
thing  be  more  entirely  at  variance  with  the  fact  ?  The  French 
Protestants  employed  no  resistance  at  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  in  1685.  Did  that  preserve  them,  and  refine 
their  Christianity?  No.  The  Scottish  Presbyterians  aided  the 
Revolution  of  1688  by  their  arms.  Did  that  destroy  them 
and  their  Christianity?  No.  They  lived,  and  for  thirty 
years  after  the  Revolution  the  Gospel  made  progress,  so  that 
the  period  is  called  the  Third  Reformation.  It  was  not  till 
the  Jacobite  party  succeeded  in  carrying  the  Patronage  Act 
of  1711,  that  there  was  any  serious  check  to  the  progress  of 
true  religion,  and  that  check  did  not  operate  immediately.  So 

20 


306 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


far,  then,  from  the  decline  of  religion  being  the  punishment 
of  the  Revolution,  it  was  the  Revolution,  at  least  in  Scotland, 
which  was  a  main  cause  of  the  revival  of  religion.  The  decline 
began  under  the  revived  influence  of  the  Act  1711,  of  those 
very  principles  which  Dr.  Pusey  thinks  should  never  have 
been  cast  out  of  the  throne  !  The  truth  seems  to  be,  that  so  far 
from  resistance  to  persecution  being  always  punished  with  dis- 
aster to  religion  and  religious  men,  the  firmness  and  resolution, 
blended  with  meekness  and  temperance  which  it  often  dis- 
plays, are  made  the  means,  in  the  hand  of  God,  of  overawing 
enemies,  and  procuring  more  reasonable  terms  for  the  pro- 
fessors of  the  Gospel,  than  they  would  otherwise  obtain.  In 
such  cases,  Christians  frequently  cannot  be  worse  than  they 
are.  They  are  persecuted  if  they  suffer  unresistingly,  and 
they  are  but  persecuted  if  they  are  constrained  to  resist. 

After  all,  perhaps,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  Dr.  Pusey 
should  dislike  the  Revolution  of  1688.  It  was  a  great  Pro- 
testant Revolution.  His  sympathies  must  be  much  stronger 
with  the  Popish  James,  and  the  semi-Popish  non-jurors, 
than  with  Protestant  William.  But  what  a  view  does  it 
give  the  people  of  Great  Britain  of  the  true  character  of  Pu- 
seyism — that  it  hales  and  denounces,  as  the  harbinger  of 
judgment,  one  of  the  brightest  events  in  the  history  of  Bri- 
tain. This  dangerous  heresy  has  been,  and  is,  in  the  course 
of  exposure  in  many  of  its  doctrinal  aspects.  It  would  seem 
that  in  its  political  features  it  is  not  safe.  Whatever  its  fol- 
lowers may  profess  to  the  contrary,  holding  the  principles 
which  they  do,  they  cannot  be  warm  friends  of  the  House  of 
of  Hanover.  The  present  remarks  will  not  be  thrown  away 
if  the  reader  sees  more  clearly  than  before,  that  what  is  un- 
sound in  religion  cannot  be  safe  in  politics,  and  vice  versa. 

But  I  cannot  dismiss  the  subject  without  condemning  the 
severe  tone  in  which  Dr.  Pusey,  and  doubtless  his  party, 
speak  of  the  French  Protestants.  It  is  easy  for  men  living 
under  their  own  vine  and  fig-tree,  with  none  to  make  them 
afraid,  to  sit  as  critics  upon  the  spirit  and  proceedings  of 
men  who  are  smarting  under  protracted  persecution,  and  to 
say  here  and  there  they  were  censurable.  This  is  heartless 
enough.  But  for  professed  ministers  of  the  Gospel  to  lake 
into  their  puny  hands  the  thunderbolt  of  heaven,  and  to  say 
that  the  massacre  of  men  in  thousands — far  better  men  than 
themselves — by  the  hands  of  Popish  treachery  and  violence, 
was  the  punishment  of  a  scheming  and  worldly-wise  spirit, 
is  insufl?erable  presumption.  Who  is  Dr.  Pusey  or  his  friends, 


OF    FRANCE.  307 

to  sit  in  judgment  on  such  men  as  Coligny  and  Peter  Ramus, 
and  the  noble  French  martyrs  of  1572?  Is  this  the  meek 
spirit  of  the  new  school  of  Anglican  theology?  Is  Puseyism 
free  from  all  that  savours  of  a  worldly-wise  spirit?  But  the 
truth  of  the  matter  seems  to  be,  that  the  French  Protestant 
Church,  through  all  her  history,  is  hated  because  she  is  a  Pres- 
byterian Church,  because  she  lays  no  claim  to  that  nonenti- 
ty— "  Apostolic  Episcopal  succession" — while  the  best  blood 
of  Protestant  Christendom  flows  in  her  veins.  But  however 
harshly  the  new  semi-Popish  party  may  speak  of  the  French 
Protestants,  men  of  higher  name  speak  in  very  different 
terms.  Jonathan  Edwards,  one  of  the  first  names  in  the 
Christian  Church,  referring  to  France,  says,  towards  the  end 
of  last  century — "  Heretofore  there  have  been  multitudes  of 
Protestants  in  France.  Many  famous  Protestant  churches 
were  over  all  that  country,  who  used  to  meet  together  in 
Synods,  and  maintain  a  very  regular  discipline;  and  a  great 
part  of  that  kingdom  were  Protestants.  The  Protestant 
Church  of  France  was  a  great  part  of  the  glory  of  the  Refor- 
7nafion.''*  But  in  case  the  testimony  of  a  Presbyterian  and 
a  Calvinist,  however  intellectual  and  learned,  should  have 
little  weight  with  the  new  English  school,  I  beg  leave  to  re- 
fer them  to  the  testimony  of  a  bishop  of  their  own  Church. 
Gilbert  Burnet,  after  being  on  the  Continent,  writes,  in  the 
"  History  of  his  own  Times,"  under  the  year  1686:  "  I  was 
indeed  amazed  at  the  labours  and  learning  of  the  ministers 
among  the  Reformed:  they  understand  the  Scriptures  well  in 
the  original  tongues.  They  had  all  the  points  of  controversy 
very  ready,  and  did  thoroughly  understand  tlie  whole  body 
of  divinity.  In  many  places  they  preached  every  day,  and 
were  almost  constantly  employed  in  visiting  their  flocks." 
These  are  the  men  who  know  nothing  about  the  Episcopal 
succession,  and  who  would  probably  despise  it  if  they  did. 
These  are  the  ministers  of  the  Church  of  which  Dr.  Pusey 
and  his  party  speak  so  disrespectfully — so  daringly.  It 
would  be  well  if  all  who  absurdly  boast  of  this  fictitious 
"  succession"  could  point  to  learning,  qualifications,  and  la- 
bours equally  decided.  But  perhaps  the  "  succession"  makes 
up  for  all  other  deficiencies.  Should  it  be  thought  that  Bur- 
net, though  a  bishop,  was  too  liberal  and  charitable  towards 
the  Presbyterians,  we  can  appeal  to  a  more  modern  testi- 
mony. The  Rev.  Dr.  Croly,  the  present  eminent  Rector  of 
St.  Stephens,  Walbrook,  London,  whom  no  one  will  accuse 
*  History  of  Redemption,  p.  298. 


308  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

of  want  of  regard  for  the  Church  of  England,  in  his  "  Inter- 
pretation of  the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John,"  finds  the  Protest- 
ant (church  of  France,  of  whom  the  new  Anglican  school 
speak  so  contemptuously,  represented  under  the  third  trum- 
pet, "  as  a  great  star  from  heaven,  burning  as  it  were  a  lamp  ;" 
and  his  historical  illustration  runs  in  these  Avords:  " 'I'he 
Protestant  Church  of  France  long  deserved  its  emblem.  It 
was  a  burning  lamp  for  half  a  century,  unquestionably  one 
of  the  most  illustrious  Churches  of  Europe.  It  held  the 
Gospel  in  singular  purity.  Its  preachers  were  apostolic. 
Its  people  the  purest,  most  intellectual,  and  most  illustrious 
of  France.  Before  the  close  of  the  16tii  century  it  amount- 
ed to  two  and  a  half  milhons  of  souls.  The  spirit  of  the 
Papacy  then  resolved  upon  its  destruction,"*  &c.  Such, 
according  to  Dr.  Croly — an  enlightened  minister  of  the 
Church  of  England — was  the  Church  which  many  of  his 
brethren  would  pronounce  not  to  be  a  Church  at  all ;  such 
was  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  France  at  the  very  time  in 
which  Dr.  Pusey  speaks  of  her  being  "an  active,  busy, 
scheming  body,  with  worldly  wisdom,"  and  therefore  pun- 
ished with  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew !  I  might 
quote  other  testimonies.  Let  me  only  remind  the  reader, 
that  Mr.  Faber,  one  of  the  most  learned  and  distinguished 
ministers  of  the  English  Church,  has  recently  v/ritten  a  large 
volume,  to  show  that  the  Waldenses,  who  form  the  original 
stock  of  the  French  Protestant  and  Presbyterian  Church,  are 
the  honoured  "witnesses"  of  the  Book  of  Revelation;  in 
short,  the  only  visible  Church  of  God  in  a  long  part  of  the 
reign  of  Antichrist;  and  yet  he  cannot  show  thatihey  have  the 
Episcopal  succession! 

With  regard  to  the  greater  passiveness  and  non-resistance 
of  the  Church  of  England,  these  did  not  proceed  from  ihe 
greater  prevalence  of  enlightened  Christianity  within  her 
pale,  but  because  her  evangelical  religion  has  in  general  been 
so  slender  compared  with  that  of  Scotland,  that  she  has  not, 
like  her,  been  so  frequently  brought  into  collision  with  the 
powers  of  a  persecuting  Slate.  She  has  shown,  however, 
when  the  occasion  occured,  that  she  did  not  feel  it  to  be  her 
duty  to  be  entirely  passive.  It  is  justly  said  by  Bishop 
Hoadley,  in  his  "Answer  to  the  ^Dean  of  Chichester," — 
"  The  remonstrances  both  against  the  crown  and  the  mitre, 
and  the  civil  tear  ilaelf,  were  begun  and  carried  on  by 
Churchmen — by  constant  Churchmen — by  a  Parliament  full 
*  P.  95. 


OP   FRANCE. 


309 


of  Churchmen."    The  contest  of  the  members  of  the  Church 
of  England  with  Cromwell,   after   he  had  manifestly  the 
power — with  James  VII.,  issuing  in  the  dethroning  of  the 
latter,  show  that  she  is  alive  to  the  lawfulness,  in  extreme 
cases,  of  resisting  the  existing  civil  authority ;  and  we  are 
not  aware  that  these  periods  in  the  history  of  the  Church  in- 
dicated less  piety  and  learning  than  others.     It  was  not  the 
Established  Church,  it  was  the  Nonconformists  who  were 
the  great  sufferers  throughout  the  reign  of  Charles  II.;  and  ad- 
mitting that  the  theologians,  subsequent  to  the  Revolution  of 
1688,  were  decidedly  inferior  to  those  who  immediately  pre- 
ceded them,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  theologians  of  a 
still  earlier  period — of  the  days  of  Elizabeth  and  James  VI., 
were  superior  to  those  of  Charles  II.;  and  yet  these  were 
the  men,  such  as  Jewel  and  many  others,  who  held  the  law- 
fulness and  duty,  in  certain   circumstances,  of  resistance; 
and  they  lived  under  sovereigns  who  held  and  exemplified 
the  same  doctrine.     The  clays  of  Charles  I.  are  generally 
looked  back  to  by  Dr.  Pusey  and  his  followers  as  the  most 
glorious  days  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  the  happy  days 
when  Archbishop  Laud  bore  the  sway ;  but  even  Charles  I., 
at  least  his  Parliament,  encouraged  the  French  Protestants 
to  resist;  and  in  the  office  of  devotion  prepared  for  the  oc- 
casion, the  naiion  was  directed,  throughout  the  Church  of 
England,  to  pray  for  all  those  "  who  here,  or  elsewhere, 
were  fighting  God's  batdes  and   defending  his  altars."     I 
need  scarcely  remmd  the  reader,  that,  at  a  later  day.  Hooker, 
the  idol  of  the  Church  of  England,  numbered  himself  among 
the  resistance  men  ;  and  that  the  other  eminent  divines  of  the 
age  of  Charles  II.  owed  much  to  their  learned  Puritan  tu- 
tors, for  whom  they  entertained  the  greatest  respect,  and  all 
of  whom,  speaking  generally,  held  the  sentiments  of  the 
Church  of  France  and  the  Church  of  Scotland  on  the  duty 
of  resistance  in  extreme  cases.     Many  divines  of  the  Eng- 
lish Church  in  more  modern  times,  and,  among  others,  the 
present  Bishop  of  Exeter  (Dr.  Philpotts,)  in  his  Phamphlets 
on  the  Popish  Question,  could  be  quoted  to  the  same  effect; 
but  I  cannot  enlarge.     It  would  be  a  serious  omission,  how- 
ever, not  to  notice   the  sentiments  of  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford on  the  subject,  as  attested  by  indubitable  historical  facts. 
Dr.  Pusey  dedicates  the  sermon  which  forms  the  ground  of 
the  present  comment,  to  the  Rev.  John  Keble,  M.  A.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Poetry;    and  his   strong  recommendation  for  the 
honour  is,  that  "  in  years  past  he  unconsciously  implanted  a 


310  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

truth,  which  was  afterwards  to  take  root — himself  the  duti- 
ful disciple  of  its  ancient  guardian  and  faithful  witness  in 
word  and  action — the  University  of  Oxford.''  The  alleged 
truth  referred  to — unless  there  be  a  marvellous  discrepancy 
between  the  dedication  and  the  doctrine  of  the  sermon — is, 
the  truth  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance.  And  has 
the  University  of  Oxford,  then,  of  which  Dr.  Pusey  is  one 
of  the  Professors,  always  been,  as  is  contended,  a  faithful 
witness  to  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance?  The  Pro- 
fessor should  know  the  history  of  his  own  University ;  but 
it  would  seem  that  here  he  has  forgotten  one  of  its  most 
striking  passages — certainly  not  a  very  honourable  or  con- 
sistent one.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the  divines  of  the 
University  of  Oxford  extracted  twenty-seven  propositions 
from  the  writings  of  Baxter,  Milton,  &c. ,  which  maintained 
that  subjects  might  examine  into  the  rights  of  rulers,  and 
resist  them,  where  they  forfeited  their  tide  by  rebellion 
against  the  Constitution.  These  propositions  the  predeces- 
sors of  Dr.  Pusey,  in  full  convocation  assembled,  condemned 
as  the  worst  of  heresies — seditious  and^blasphemous ;  yet,  in 
four  short  years  afterwards,  they  themselves  resisted  the 
authority  of  the  king,  and  refused  to  practise  the  same  pas- 
sive obedience  and  non-resitance  which,  by  solemn  decree, 
they  had  so  strongly  recommended  to  others.  They  did  not 
commit  themselves  to  the  hands  of  God,  and  look  for  super- 
natural deliverance.  As  soon  as  the  Popish  James  invaded 
their  rights  and  property,  they  betook  themselves  to  the 
Presbyterian  Prince  of  Orange  in  a  body — declared  in  his 
behalf — offered  him  their  plate— -and  all  this  while  the  anoint- 
ed king  still  sat  upon  the  throne !  Surely  such  tergiversation, 
on  the  part  of  learned  men,  is  a  plain  proof  that,  however 
fair  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance  may 
look  in  theory,  it  is  found  to  be  utterly  impracticable  on  trial. 
The  University  of  Oxford  is  but  a  sorry  witness  to  Dr. 
Pusey's  great  truths  and  principles;  and  yet  he  says,  that 
*'  in  word  and  action"  she  has  ever  been  their  chosen  guar- 
dian! 

Perhaps  I  cannot  better  close  my  observations  on  this  sub- 
ject than  in  the  words  of  the  late  Dr.  M'Crie,  distinguished 
at  once  for  sobriety  of  judgment,  depth  of  learning,  and  en- 
lightened Christian  principle.  They  completely  meet  an 
objection  which  has  been  urged  against  the  French  Protes- 
tant Church  by  a  leading  literary  journal  within  these  few 
years.     In  his  interesting  work  on  the  "  History  and  Pro- 


OF    FRANCE.  311 

gress  of  the  Suppression  of  the  Reformation  in  Spain  in  the 
16th  Century,"  Dr.  M'Crie  says,*— "The  following  words 
of  a  writer,  whose  knowledge  of  facts  was  not  equal  to  his 
strong  natural  sense,  express  an  opinion  which  is  not  now 
uncommon  : — '  I  believe  it  will  be  found,  says  Andrew  Fuller, 
in  his  "  Christian  Patriotism,"  that  when  Christians  have 
resorted  to  the  sword  in  order  to  resist  persecution  for  the 
Gospel's  sake,  as  did  the  Albigenses,  the  Bohemians,  the 
French  Protestants,  and  some  others  within  the  last  six 
hundred  years,  the  issue  has  commonly  been  that  they  have 
perished  by  it — that  is,  they  have  been  overcome  by  their 
enemies  and  exterminated;  whereas,  in  cases  where  their 
only  weapons  have  been,  "the  blood  of  the  Lamb  and  the 
word  of  their  testimony,  loving  not  their  lives  unto  the 
death,"  they  have  overcome.'  The  facts  which  have  been 
laid  before  the  reader  will  enable  him  to  judge  of  the  last 
part  of  this  assertion.  (The  faithful  in  Spain,  instead  of 
overcoming,  were  extinguished.)  Nor  is  the  first  part  less 
incorrect  and  objectionable.  The  truth  is,  that  the  Albigen- 
ses, &c.  &c.,  who  resisted,  were  not  exterminated;  while 
the  Italian  and  Spanish  Protestants,  who  did  not  resist,  met 
with  that  fate.  If  the  defensive  wars  of  the  Albigenses  were 
not  successful,  it  ought  to  be  remembered  that  those  of  the 
Protestants  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  Scotland,  and  the  Low 
Countries,  were  crowned  with  success.  The  French  Pro- 
testants were  suppressed,  not  when  they  had  arms  in  their 
hands,  but  when  they  were  living  peaceably  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  public  faith,  pledged  to  them  in  edicts  which 
had  been  repeatedly  and  solemnly  ratified.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  public  mind  in  Britain,  much  as  has  been  done  to 
mislead  it,  is  not  yet  prepared  for  adopting  principles  which 
lead  to  a  condemnation  of  the  famous  Waldenses  and  Bohe- 
mians for  standing  to  the  defence  of  their  lives,  when  pro- 
scribed and  violently  attacked  on  account  of  their  religion. 
They  lived  during  the  period  of  Antichrist's  power,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  adorable  plan  of  Providence,  were  allowed  to 
fall  a  sacrifice  to  his  rage;  but  while  the  Scriptures  foretell 
this,  they  mention  it  to  their  hoyioiir,  and  not  in  the  ivay  of 
fixing  b/ame  on  them.  '  It  was  given  to  the  Beast  to  make 
war  with  the  saints,  and  to  overcome  them.*  Instead  of 
being  ranked  with  those  who  perished  in  consequence  of 
their  having  taken  the  sword  without  a  just  reason,  these 
Christian  patriots  deserve  rather  to  be  numbered  with  those 
*P.  137. 


312 


PROTESTANT  CHURCH 


who,  through  '  faith,  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  turned  to  flight 
the  armies  of  the  aliens,  and  others  were  slain  with  the  sword  ;* 
all  of  whom,  'having  obtained  a  good  report,  through  faith, 
received  not  the  promises,  God  having  provided  some  better 
things  for  us.'  " 

A  case  of  similar  success  to  those  quoted  by  Dr.  M'Crie, 
and  comparatively  recent,  might  be  referred  to.  Mr.  Ander- 
son, Professor  of  Church  History  in  the  University  of  Glas- 
gow, informed  Wodrow,  the  historian,  as  appears  from  his 
unpublished  MSS.,  that  he  was  in  Switzerland  about  the  be- 
ginning of  last  century,  and  visited  the  valley  of  Lucerne, 
where  he  found  fourteen  ministers  labouring  among  a  serious 
and  religious  people ;  but  such  were  their  hazards  from  the 
Popish  House  of  Savoy,  that  they  felt  their  only  security  to 
lie  in  being  always  armed  to  defend  themselves  and  their  re- 
ligion ;  and  what  was  the  consequence  ?  Were  they  exter- 
minated? Did  they  perish?  No;  their  enemies  ceased  to 
trouble  them:  their  resolution,  under  God,  was  the  means 
of  saving  them  from  destruction.  I  may  add,  in  reference 
to  the  French  Protestant  Church,  that  the  great  Reformer, 
Calvin, —  whom  Hooker,  and  Baxter,  and'even  the  infidel  D' 
Alembert,  have  concurred  in  admiring,  and  who  is  remarka- 
bly cautious  in  his  sentiments  as  to  the  doctrine  of  resistance, 
so  much  so,  that  he  has  been  claimed  by  the  passive  obe- 
dience and  non-resistance  writers  as  according  with  them, — 
even  Calvin  exhorted  the  king  of  Navarre,  as  first  Prince  of 
the  blood,  to  save  France  from  the  ruin  into  which  the  Po- 
pish Guises  were  plunging  it;  in  other  words,  approved  of 
the  civil  and  religious  wars  which  Dr.  Pusey  and  his  party 
denounce  as  rebellions.  It  may  be  added,  too,  as  an  indica- 
cation  of  the  religious  spirit  of  the  Protestants  in  the  strug- 
gle of  that  period,  that,  like  their  brethren  of  Scotland  at  a 
later  day,  they  carried  religion  into  the  army,  where,  in 
France,  perhaps,  it  had  never  been  before.  A  modern  writer 
on  the  Reformed  Church  of  France,  who  has  no  great  favour 
either  for  Calvinists  or  Presbyterians,  (Smedley,)  says,  "At 
tlie  opening  of  the  campaign,  prayers  were  read  night  and 
morning  at  the  head  of  each  regiment  by  its  own  minister; 
no  cursing  or  reviling  were  heard  in  the  ranks;  no  gambling 
or  debauchery  sullied  the  camp;  peasants,  tradesmen,  and 
strangers  resorted  in  safety  to  the  military  quarters,  and  nei- 
ther the  hope  of  forage  nor  of  plunder  allured  the  soldiers 
from  their  standard.  In  their  spirit  of  liberality  also,  there 
was  a  remarkable  correspondence  betv.een  the  French  Pres- 


OF    FRANCE.  313 

byterians  and  their  brethren  of  Scotland  a  century  afterwards. 
The  same  writer,  speaking  of  a  later  day  in  the  French 
struggle,  when  the  German  Elector  Palatine  sent  seven  thou- 
sand troops  to  their  aid,  and  it  was  necessary  to  raise  the 
large  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  crowns,  says,  "  The 
Prince  (Conde)  and  Coligny,  however,  contributed  their  plate 
and  jewels,  and  their  example,  and  the  exhortations  of  the 
ministers,  who  always  accompanied  the  march,  prevailed  so 
greatly,  that  every  officer  and  man  made  some  personal  sa- 
crifice, and  even  the  meanest  horse-boy  and  camp  follower  in 
the  host  emulously  threw  in  his  mile  to  the  general  fund." 
Thirty  thousand  crowns  were  in  this  way  speedily  raised  in 
the  Protestant  army. 

But  while  I  thus  vindicate  the  Churches  of  France  and 
Scotland  from  the  severe  censures  of  Dr.  Pusey  and  others, 
and  believe  that  their  circumstances  were  so  extreme  as  to 
warrant  resistance,  and  that  their  resistance  was  not  rebellion 
but  duty,  I  have  again  to  repeat,  that  I  do  not  feel  called  up- 
on to  justify  all  their  proceedings,  not  a  few  of  which  were 
doubtful,  some  decidedly  wrong;  and  I  have  again  to  repeat, 
that  obedience  to  civil  authority  is  so  high  and  imperative  a 
Christian  duty,  and  resistance  to  it  so  rarely  warrantable, 
that  it  is  not  a  theme  of  desirable  discussion,  but  should  be 
left  among  those  difficult  and  urgent  cases  to  be  decided  on 
when  the  dread  emergency  occurs  in  that  peculiar  light  of 
circumstances  which  cannot  be  imagined  in  theory,  but  which 
the  providence  of  God  usually  supplies  for  the  guidance  of 
his  own  faithful  people. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FROM  1685  TO  1715. 

Having  described  the  awful  preparations  for  the  Revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes— the  terrible  revocation  itself— I  must 
now  describe  the  consequences  of  that  measure.  It  was  to 
be  expected  that  so  horrible  a  deed  would  be  attended  with 
disastrous  results.  Even  the  chief  actors  in  the  revocation 
were  ashamed  of  it,  and  attempted  to  deny  it;  but  the  exces- 
sive eulogies  of  Louis'  partisans  frequently  betray  the  truth. 
They  laud  the  king  almost  into  a  demigod.     But  why?   Be- 


314  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

cause  of  his  great  services  to  the  Popish  Church.  And  what 
are  these?  The  rooting  out  of  heresy — in  other  words,  the 
destruction  of  the  Reformed  Church.  Thus  is  the  disgrace- 
ful truth,  which  men  would  fain  hide,  incidentally  discover- 
ed. Besides,  in  addition  to  all  other  testimonies,  there""  are 
six  volumes  of  documents  still  extant,  consisting  of  the  re- 
ports, &c.,  to  the  Government,  of  those  who  were  leading 
actors  in  the  oppression  and  slaughter  of  the  saints  of  God; 
and  one  of  the  accounts  consists  of  the  enormous  sum  of 
five  hundred  and  thirty-six  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty 
livres  for  books  for  the  use  of  the  pretended  converts  who 
had  been  driven  by  persecution  into  outward  conformity  to 
the  Church  of  Rome.  Even  a  Roman  Catholic,  the  Duke 
de  St.  Simon,  could  say,  "  The  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  without  the  least  pretext  or  necessity,  depopulated 
one-fourth  of  the  kingdom,  ruined  trade  in  all  its  branches, 
placed  it  (the  country)  so  long  under  the  public  avowed  pil- 
lage of  the  dragoons,  and  authorized  torments  and  execu- 
tions, in  which  thousands  of  innocent  persons  of  both  sexes 
perished."     But  we  must  enter  a  little  more  into  detail. 

While  the  Protestant  pastors  were  all  driven  from  their 
country  under  the  heaviest  penalty,  their  people  were  not 
allowed  to  leave  it  except  at  the  risk  of  severe  punishment. 
So  much,  however,  had  they  now  lost,  and  so  much  did  they 
now  suffer,  that  France  became  embittered  to  them,  and 
their  great  anxiety  and  effort  were  to  emigrate  to  other  lands. 
This  was  the  course  which,  perhaps,  nearly  one-half  of  the 
whole  Protestant  population  pursued,  though  almost  incredi- 
ble were  the  hardships  which  they  encountered  in  accom- 
plishing it.  So  early  as  1681,  four  years  before  the  edict 
was  actually  revoked,  Mr.  Quick,  then  minister  of  the  Eng- 
lish church  at  Middleburgh,  recollected  having  been  credibly 
informed  that  five  hundred  families  of  French  merchants  had 
left  their  native  country,  and  settled  in  Amsterdam;  and  that 
fifty  families  had,  in  the  course  of  two  months,  taken  up 
their  abode  at  Hamburgh.  The  whole  population  thus  re- 
moving probably  amounted  to  between  fourteen  and  fifteen 
thousand  souls.  They  were  the  families  of  merchants,  too, 
indicating  a  measure  of  wealth  and  respectability;  and  if  so 
many  betook  themselves  to  two  commercial  cities,  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  many  more  removed  to  other  quarters. 

But  it  was  after  the  revocation  that  the  people  fled  in  pro- 
digious numbers.  The  succeeding  month,  we  read  in  a  let- 
ter from  Geneva,  that  some  time  previously  not  a  day  passed 


OF    FRANCE.  315 

in  which  that  town  did  not  receive  and  supply  from  thirty  to 
ninety  persons  of  all  ages  and  conditions,  and  of  both  sexes; 
thus,  in  two  short  months,  probably  becoming  the  asylum  of 
five  thousand  poor  French  refugees.  In  one  morning,  the 
inhabitants  saw  at  their  gates  five  hundred  carts  laden  with 
household  goods,  and  followed  by  an  innumerable  multitude 
of  persons,  who  went  and  came  from  all  quarters.  The  wri- 
ter beautifully  adds,  "  The  country  of  Vauxis  filled  in  every 
quarter  with  French  fugitives.  Within  these  three  weeks 
there  have  been  reckoned  seventeen  thousand  five  hundred 
persons  that  have  passed  into  Lausanne."  "  Zurich  wrote 
admirable  letters  to  Berne  and  Geneva,  desiring  them  to 
send  of  those  poor  people  unto  them,  and  that  they  would 
receive  them  as  their  own  natural  brethren,  into  their  coun- 
try, into  their  houses,  yea,  and  into  their  very  hearts."  I 
subjoin,  in  a  few  sentences,  a  picture  of  the  melancholy 
condition  of  the  poor  fugitives,  from  the  same  important 
document: — 

"  Women  and  maids  came  to  us  in  the  habits  of  men, 
children  in  cofiers  packed  up  as  clothes,  others  without  any 
other  precaution  at  all  than  in  their  cradles  tied  about  their 
parents'  necks;  some  passing  this,  others  that  way,  all  stop- 
ping either  at  the  gates  or  churches  of  the  city,  with  cries 
and  tears  of  joy  and  sorrow  mingled  together;  some  demand- 
ing, where  are  our  fathers  and  mothers?  others,  where  are 
our  wives  and  children? — not  knowing  where  to  find  them, 
not  having  learnt  any  news  of  them  from  the  time  they  de- 
parted from  their  houses.  In  short,  every  one  was  so  affected 
with  these  miserable  objects,  that  it  was  impossible  to  refrain 
from  weeping.  Some  had  no  sooner  passed  the  first  barricado, 
but  prostrating  themselves,  upon  their  knees,  sung  a  psalm 
of  thanksgiving  for  their  happy  deliverance;  though,  poor 
creatures,  they  had  not  wherewithal  to  get  themselves  a  meal's 
meat,  and  might  have  gone  to  bed  that  night  supperless,  had 
not  the  Lord,  of  his  great  goodness,  extraordinarily  provided 
for  them.  Thus  we  spent  two  months,  every  day  affording 
us  new  adventures,  fresh  and  eminent  examples  of  self-denial, 
and  that  divers  ways. 

"  No  longer  than  yesterday,  in  despite  of  all  guards  at  the 
several  passes,  and  dangers  of  the  galleys,  there  arrived 
hither  no  less  than  fifty  persons.  A  tall  chairman,  who  had 
been  a  lacquey,  as  lie  was  coming  from  his  house,  espying 
Monsieur  de  Cambiaques  passing  over  the  bridge,  immediate- 
ly stopped,  and  embraced  him  in  his  livery  coat.    Four  young 


316 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


ladies  of  Grenoble,  disguised  in  men's  apparel,  after  they 
had  lodged  four  or  five  days  in  the  forests  and  mountains, 
without  any  other  provision  than  a  little  bread,  having  tra- 
velled only  by  night,  came  hither  but  a  few  hours  ago  in  this 
their  gallant  equipage.  Should  I  write  you  all  the  stories  I 
know,  we  should  never  have  done." 

We  have  the  following  interesting  testimony  to  the  same 
purpose  from  Burnet,  who  was  at  that  time  sojourning  in 
Switzerland.  He  says,  in  his  "  History  of  his  own  Times,'* 
"  I  was  all  the  winter  at  Geneva,  where  we  had  constantly 
fresh  stories  brought  us  of  the  miseries  of  those  who  were 
suffering  in  France.  Refugees  were  coming  over  every  day, 
poor  and  naked,  and  half  starved,  before  they  got  thither; 
and  that  small  state  was  under  great  apprehension  of  being 
swallowed  up,  having  no  strength  of  their  own."  In  a  let- 
ter from  Zurich,  he  has  a  still  more  ample  statement,  highly 
honourable  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Switzerland : 
*'  There  is  one  thing,"  says  he,  "  for  which  the  Switzers, 
in  particular  those  of  Berne,  cannot  be  enough  commended. 
They  have,  ever  since  the  persecution  first  begun  in  France, 
opened  a  sanctuary  to  such  as  have  retired  thither,  in  so  ge- 
nerous and  Christian  a  manner,  that  it  deserves  all  the  ho- 
nourable remembrances  that  can  be  made  of  it.  Such  minis- 
ters and  others  that  were  at  first  condemned  in  France  for 
the  afiair  of  the  Cevennes,  have  not  only  found  a  kind  re- 
ception here,  but  all  the  support  that  could  be  expected,  and 
indeed  much  more  than  in  reason  might  have  been  expected  ; 
for  they  have  assigned  the  French  ministers  five  crowns  a 
month,  if  they  were  unmarried,  and  have  increased  it  to  such 
as  had  wives  and  children — so  that  some  had  above  ten 
crowns  a  month  pension.  They  dispersed  them  all  over  the 
Pays  de  Vaud,  but  the  greatest  number  resided  at  Lausanne 
and  Veray.  In  order  to  the  supporting  of  this  charge,  the 
charities  of  Zurich,  the  other  neighbouring  Protestant  States, 
were  brought  thither.  Not  only  the  Protestant  Cantons,  but 
the  Grisons,  and  some  small  States  that  are  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Cantons,  such  as  Neuchatel,  St.  Gall,  and 
some  others,  have  sent  in  their  charities  to  Berne,  who  dis- 
pense them  with  great  discretion,  and  bear  what  further 
charge  this  relief  brings  upon  them ;  and  in  this  last  total 
and  deplorable  dispersion  of  those  churches,  the  whole  coun- 
try has  been  animated  with  such  a  spirit  of  charity  and  com- 
passion, that  every  man's  house  and  purse  has  been  open  to 
the  refugees  that  have  passed  thither  in  such  numbers,  that 


OF    FRANCE.  317 

sometimes  there  have  been  two  thousand  in  Lausanne  alone, 
and  of  these  there  were  at  one  time  nearly  two  hundred  mi- 
nisters; and  they  all  met  with  a  kindness  and  free-heart- 
edness  that  looked  more  like  somewhat  of  the  primitive 
age  revived,  than  the  degeneracy  of  the  age  in  which  we 
live." 

Nor  was  the  kindness  of  foreign  Protestants  limited  to  the 
sufferers  who  emigrated  and  came  among  them  in  nakedness 
and  want.  They  did  not  forget  the  prisoners  in  the  dun- 
geons and  galleys  of  France.  Accordingly,  we  find  that  let- 
ters of  sympathy  were  written,  liberal  contributions  made, 
and  earnest  intercessions  employed  with  the  French  Go- 
vernment, through  their  ambassadors,  in  behalf  of  the  suffer- 
ing saints  of  God.  Very  frequently  such  applications  as  the 
last  not  only  failed,  but  were  the  occasion  of  greater  severity 
to  the  persecuted.  It  was  alleged  that  they  were  holding 
correspondence  with  enemies,  and  plotting  against  the  French 
kingdom.  Hence  the  captives  were  sometimes  constrained 
to  beg  their  friends  not  to  interfere  for  them,  as  it  added  to, 
instead  of  diminishing,  their  sufferings.  Alluding  to  Switz- 
erland, it  may  be  mentioned,  that  M.  Escher,  burgomaster  of 
Zurich,  and  his  family,  were  particularly  kind  to  the  excel- 
lent Lefebvre  and  his  fellow-captives.  We  insert  the  follow- 
ing beautiful  Christian  letter  of  the  Swiss  magistrate,  ad- 
dressed to  them  in  their  loathsome  dungeon  : 

"  My  Dear  Brethren, — I  should  be  the  most  ungrateful 
of  men,  if,  after  the  expressions  of  love  and  esteem  with 
which  many  of  your  letters  are  filled  for  me,  the  most  hum- 
ble of  your  friends,  and  one  so  undeserving  of  your  regard, 
I  could  be  at  all  insensible  to  your  affectionate  remembrance. 
I  should  have  endeavoured,  some  time  ago,  to  acknowledge 
the  kind  attention  you  have  shown  me ;  but  I  have  waited, 
in  the  hope  of  having  some  good  news  to  tell  you.  I  have 
laboured  to  obtain  your  deliverance.  I  have  made  use  of  my 
friends;  and  last  week,  being  on  a  journey  to  Soleure,  I  re- 
peated my  earnest  entreaties  to  Mons.  Amelot,  the  ambassa- 
dor. But  as  I  can  get  no  positive  answer,  and  am  always 
sent  away  with  the  recommendation  to  make  myself  easy, 
for  the  business  will  be  setded  sooner  than  I  may  expect; 
and  as,  to  my  great  regret,  the  hopes  I  had  till  this  time 
conceived  are  frustrated,  I  can  no  longer  remain  silent. 

"  Accept  my  most  humble  thanks,  my  dear  brethren,  for 
your  kind  remembrance  of  a  person  who  is,  indeed,  a  sharer 
of  your  sorrows,  your  sufferings,  and  your  atflictiuns ;  who 


318  PROTESTANT  CHUECH 

has  hitherto  made  every  effort  to  soften  the  rigours  of  the 
bondage  with  which  you  are  so  unjustly  oppressed;  but  who 
does  not,  on  that  account,  think  himself  entitled  to  the  great 
encomiums  in  your  letters.  I  am  fully  purposed,  and  feel 
myself  bound,  as  a  Christian  and  a  brother  of  the  same  com- 
munion, still  to  seek  to  procure  your  release;  but  I  must  beg 
you  to  be  less  liberal  of  your  thanks,  and  to  believe  that, 
though  I  have  the  honour  to  fill  the  first  office  of  the  Helve- 
tic State,  I  confess  myself  to  be  a  poor  sinner,  who  am  not 
to  seek  my  happiness  in  the  vanities  of  this  world,  but  in 
humility  and  self-abasement. 

"  1  have  read  your  letters,  my  dear  brethren,  with  atten- 
tion and  edification.  I  see  that  God  makes  use  of  you  as 
extraordinary  instruments  of  his  glory.  I  remark  in  you 
zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  unexampled  piety,  a  perfect  imi- 
tation of  the  glorious  martyrs  and  confessors  of  the  primitive 
Church,  unequalled  steadfastness,  indescribable  patience, 
souls  that  are  filled  with  spiritual  comfort,  and  eyes  that  are 
enlightened  with  the  vision  of  the  Deity,  even  here  below. 
By  all  these  virtues,  you  triumph  over  your  enemies,  des- 
pise the  evils  they  make  you  suffer,  and  bear  patiently  the 
reproach  of  the  world,  with  the  sole  view  of  glorifying  God's 
holy  name.  Go  on,  then,  my  beloved  brethren,  in  this 
blessed  resolution,  since  you  see  that  God  works  such  great 
things  for  you ;  and  that  he  has  called  you  to  suffer  for  his 
great  name's  sake,  in  those  vile  places  which  are  usually  the 
receptacles  of  the  dregs  of  the  earth,  who,  without  doubt, 
distress  your  pure  minds  by  their  wickedness.  But  take 
courage,  my  dear  brethren,  since  you  know  that  it  is  thus  or- 
dained by  God ;  that  all  must  work  together  for  good  to  them 
that  love  him;  that,  as  all  human  things  have  an  end,  the 
God  of  all  goodness  has  appointed  an  end  to  your  sorrows, 
when  he  will  recompense  you  with  the  reward  of  the  right- 
eous. 

"  I  solicit  for  myself  and  my  numerous  f\imily  an  interest 
in  your  prayers,  for  I  know  that,  proceeding  from  the  be- 
loved servants  of  God,  they  will  assuredly  be  heard  and  an- 
swered; and  on  my  part,  I  shall  always  bear  your  afflictions 
in  mind  in  all  my  supplications,  though  mingled  with  so 
much  infirmity. 

"  I  have  sent  to  Mons.  M ,  at  Berne,  forty  pistoles, 

to  be  transmitted  to  you  in  the  most  convenient  way.  Please 
to  accept  this  small  sum,  which  is  made  up  by  myself  and 
three  of  my  sons ;   and  be  assured  that  it  is  offered  in  the 


OF    FRA.>'CE.  319 

sincerity  of  our  hearts.  We  pray  that  you  may  continue  to 
receive  all  divine  consolations,  and  obtain  a  speedy  deliver- 
ance from  your  bondage;  and  we  rejoice  in  every  opportu- 
nity of  rendering  you  service,  especially  myself,  \vho  am 
truly,  my  beloved  brethren,  your  very  humble  and  devoted 
servant,  Henry  Escher." 

Great  exertions  were  made  in  behalf  of  the  afflicted  Pro- 
testants by  the  Queen  of  Denmark  and  the  Prince  of  the 
family,  through  the  French  ambassador  at  Copenhagen,  and 
with  some  success;  but  in  general  it  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  any  relaxation  or  release  could  be  obtained. 
Even  the  ambassadors  of  England  and  Holland  had  no  small 
labour  in  obtaining  from  France  a  fulfilment  of  the  treaty  of 
Ryswick  in  1697,  in  virtue  of  which  the  Protestants  con- 
demned to  the  galleys  were  to  be  given  up  as  prisoners  of 
war.  Though  they  laid  claim  to  none  save  those  most  ex- 
pressly comprehended  within  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of 
peace,  there  were  many  repulses  and  defeats  ere  they  were 
successful.  The  number  of  those  doomed  to  the  slavery  of 
the  galley-boat  may  be  estimated  from  the  fact,  that  the 
Court  had  a  list  of  sixteen  hundred  of  them  subjected  to  the 
bastinado — a  most  shocking  punishment.  It  may  be  believed 
that  there  were  many  in  the  galleys  who  were  not  reduced 
to  this  extremity.  The  conclusion  therefore  is,  that  the  num- 
bers in  the  galleys  were  immense. 

It  would  not  be  easy,  nor  is  it  a  matter  of  much  conse- 
quence, precisely  to  ascertain  how  many  Protestants  left 
their  country.  .A  few  months  after  the  revocation,  it  is  confi- 
dendy  stated  that  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  had  departed. 
Some  years  afterwards,  it  was  estimated  that  from  eight  hun- 
dred thousand  to  one  million,  had  sought  safety  in  exile.  It  is 
certain  that  in  a  single  year  the  Prince  of  Orange  raised  three 
regiments,  and  manned  three  ships  of  war,  with  French  Pro- 
testants; and  that  there  were  not  less  than  sixty-two  Walloon 
or  French  Protestant  Churches  in  Holland.  In  1698,  the 
States  General  of  Holland  wrote  to  the  King  of  Sweden, 
that  their  country  was  so  full,  they  could  support  no  more  of 
the  refugees,  and  entreated  him  to  find  a  place  for  them  in 
his  German  dominions.  Cotemporary  statements  bear  that 
not  less  than  eleven  m/fre  English  regiments  were  composed 
of  French  refugees,  besides  many  individuals  enrolled  in  the 
troops  of  the  line.    It  is  estimated  that  fifty  thousand  Hugo- 


320  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

nots,  as  a  whole,  crossed  to  the  shores  of  Britain.  In  Ger- 
many, the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  was  particularly  kind  to 
them.  He  invited  them  to  settle  in  his  dominions,  and  gave 
them  a  separate  code  of  jurisprudence,  framed  in  their  own 
language,  and  administered  by  judges  chosen  from  among 
themselves.  As  true  religion  makes  men  intelligent,  indus- 
trious, and  frugal,  and  as  the  Protestants  had  been  shut  out 
from  public  offices,  so  they  generally  followed  manufacturing 
and  commercial  pursuits,  and  not  a  few  of  them  were  weal- 
thy. Persons  of  quality  among  them  left  properties  yielding 
from  ten  to  thirty  thousand  livres  per  annum.  The  manu- 
facture of  silks,  hats,  and  drugs,  suffered  so  seriously  from 
their  removal,  that  in  some  quarters  the  revenue  sunk  one- 
half.  As  a  whole,  it  was  estimated,  that  not  less  than 
£20,000,000  sterling  of  property  left  the  country;  and  that 
in  the  loss  of  her  active  and  enterprising  Protestants,  France 
sustained  as  great  an  injury  as  she  would  have  received  from 
four  ordinary  civil  wars.  In  the  course  of  five  years  after 
the  Revocation,  the  city  of  Tours  fell  from  eighty  to  thirty 
thousand  in  population.  While  this  shows  how  serious  was 
the  suffering  which  the  Protestants  endured,  it  also  shows. 
how  serious  a  sufferer  France  was  in  a  commercial  point  of 
view.  But  instead  of  being  an  evil,  this  was  a  blessing  to 
the  cause  of  Protestantism  throughout  the  world.  The  re- 
vocation of  the  edict,  which  France  hoped  would  strengthen 
her,  was  the  first  step  to  her  fall.  It  weakened  her  power 
for  evil  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  by  scattering  her  man- 
ufacturing skill  and  commercial  resources  to  Protestant 
lands,  in  the  same  degree  made  them  so  much  the  more  pow- 
erful. It  is  well  for  the  cause  of  true  religion,  that  France 
did  not  remain  so  influential  as  a  nation  as  she  was  before 
the  revocation  of  the  edict. 

The  manufactures  of  Great  Britain  received  an  important 
impulse  from  the  accession  of  the  French  Protestants.  The 
Spitaltield  silk  manufactures  originated  with  them;  and 
glass-working  was  introduced,  which  had  been  almost  con- 
fined to  France ;  also  some  manufactures  in  Edinburgh,  which, 
I  believe,  have  become  extinct  there.  The  French  name, 
Picardy,  in  that  city,  still  marks  the  site.  It  may  be  no- 
ticed, that  this  country  has  more  than  once  gained  in  a  com- 
mercial and  manufacturing  light,  by  the  Popish  persecution 
of  Protestants.  God  would  thus  seem  to  reward  her  faith- 
fulness, and  punish  the  infatuated  enemies  of  his  Ciiurch. 


OF    FRANCE. 


321 


In  "Lardner's  Cylopsedia,"  in  the  treatise  on  the  silk  manu- 
facture, there  is  the  following  notice : — 

"The  city  of  Antwerp  having  been  taken  after  an  obsti- 
nate resistance,  in  the  year  1585,  by  the  Duke  of  Parma, 
then  Governor  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  it  was  consigned 
during  three  days,  to  indiscriminate  plunder  and  destruction. 
Its  ruin  was  a  death-blow  to  the  commerce  of  the  Low 
Countries,  and  the  noble  manufactures  of  Flanders  and  Bra- 
bant were  dispersed  into  various  countries.  About  a  third 
part  of  the  artizans  and  merchants,  who  wrought  and  dealt 
in  silk,  took  refuge  in  England,  where  they  finally  settled, 
and  taught  those  arts  by  which  they  had  long  prospered  in 
their  native  land." 

"  The  introduction  of  the  weaving  of  silk  damask  into 
England,  is  said  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the  flight  to 
these  hospitable  shores  of  certain  Dutch  and  Flemish  weavers 
from  the  persecutions  of  the  Duke  of  Alva,  when,  in  the 
year  1567,  he  was  deputed  by  Philip  I.,  of  Spain  to  extin- 
guish the  kindling  spark  of  liberty  in  the  Low  Countries." 

With  regard  to  cotton,  Baine,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Cot- 
ton Manufacture,"  says — "I  am  more  inclined  to  think  that 
the  art  [of  making  cotton  cloth]  was  imported  from  Flanders 
about  the  same  time  [1582,]  by  the  crowd  of  Protestant  ar- 
tizans and  workmen  who  fled  from  Antwerp,  on  the  capture 
and  ruin  of  that  great  trading  city,  by  the  Duke  of  Parma,  in 
1585,  and  also  from  other  cities  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands." 
And  what  is  the  state  of  the  cotton  trade  now  ?  Let  the  same 
writer  answer.  "  The  cotton  trade  supports  now  one  mil- 
lion Ave  hundred  thousand  individuals,  employing  more 
than  one-eleventh  part  of  the  population  of  Great  Britain;" 
"  and  the  receipts  of  our  manufacturers  and  merchants,  from 
this  one  production  of  the  national  industry,  are  equal  to  two- 
thirds  of  the  whole  public  revenue  of  the  kingdom." 

With  regard  more  particularly  to  the  manufactures  estab- 
lished by  the  French  Protestants  at  the  period  which  we  are 
contemplating,  we  have,  from  the  same  authors,  the  subjoin- 
ed  interesting  information: — 

"  Mr.  James  Thomson,  a  scientific  and  accomplished 
calico-printer  at  Primrose,  near  Clitheroe,  in  his  evidence  be- 
fore a  select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  on  trade, 
manufactures,  and  shipping,  in  1833,  informed  the  Commit- 
tee, that  the  origin  of  printing  in  England  dated  from  about 
the  year  1690,  when  a  small  print-ground  was  established  on 
the  banks  of  the  Thames  at  Richmond,  by  a  Frenchman, 
21 


322  TROTESTANT    CHURCH 

who,  in  all  probability,  was  a  refugee  after  the  Revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes."* 

"It  was,"  says  Lardner,  "from  the  refugees  of  that  (the 
French)  nation,  when  forced  to  abjure  their  country  by  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  the  year  1685,  that 
the  art  of  weaving  velvet  became  known,  and  was  domes- 
ticated in  SpitaUields,  where  it  has  since  continued,  and  been 
followed  with  success." 

The  Protestant  ministers  dispersed  themselves  to  various 
quarters.  Claude,  Basnage,  and  De  Bosc,  went  to  Holland; 
Saurin  to  Geneva;  Allix  to  England.  These  were  the  lead- 
ing ministers;  but  many  brethren  went  along  with  them. 
Quick  met  with  not  fewer  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  in 
London.  There  were  two  hundred  in  Holland.  We  have 
seen  that  at  one  time  there  were  two  hundred  at  Lausanne. 
In  Edinburgh,  so  considerable  was  the  French  population, 
that  it  enjoyed  the  services  of  two  ministers ;  the  one  received 
^100,  and  the  other  ^70  a-year.  In  the  metropolis  there 
were  twenty-two  French  churches  supported  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  not  less  than  three  tliousand  refugees  maintained 
by  public  subscription.  Spitalfield  and  Seven  Dials  Chapels 
in  London  were  originally  French  Protestant  churches. 
Bower,  in  his  "History  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,"! 
has  the  following  statement: — "  Upon  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  in  1685,  a  small  colony  of  French  Protes- 
tanls  emigrated  from  Picardy  to  Scotland,  and  first  intro- 
duced the  manufacture  of  silk  and  cambric  into  this  country. 
Another  party  of  refugees  from  Bordeaux  settled  within  about 
three  miles  of  Edinburgh,  and  the  village  is  still  vulgarly  called 
Burdy-house  (Bordeaux-House.)  Both  of  these  were  ac- 
commodated with  houses  built  by  the  town  of  Edinburgh, 
which  was  called  Picardy,  at  the  head  of  Leith  Walk.  The 
Council  also  gave  them  the  privilege  of  assembling  for  pub- 
lic worship  in  the  lower  common  hall  of  the  College.  Some 
persons  still  living  remember  when  they  regularly  met  for 
this  purpose;  and  the  whole  service  was  conducted  in  the 
French  lannfuage.  In  the  course  of  litde  more  than  two 
generations,  the  knowledge  of  French  was  lost,  and  the  prac- 

*  "The  separation  of  Holland  and  Belgium,  which  has  been  fol- 
lowed by  the  loss,  to  the  latter,  of  the  trade  with  Dutch  colonies,  has 
crushed  the  manufacture  (which  was  stated  to  Jiave  been  before  in  a 
ver}'  flourishing  state)  again,  and  the  weavers  and  spinners  are  at  this 
moment  in  a  state  of  the  deepest  distress." 

t  Vol.  ii.,  p.  24. 


OF   FRANCE.  323 

tice  consequently  discontinued.  In  the  year  1603,  King 
William  granted  to  the  town  of  Edinburgh  a  duty  of  two 
pennies  upon  the  pint  of  ale,  for  a  certain  number  of  years. 
By  this  Act  of  Parliament,  the  town  was  burdened  with  the 
sum  of  two  thousand  merks  yearly,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
minister  of  the  French  congregation.  Upon  the  deaih  of 
one  of  the  clergymen,  the  magistrates  agreed  to  give  the  sur- 
vivor fifteen  hundred,  the  widow  of  his  former  colleague  two 
hundred,  and  three  hundred  merks  to  the  precentor,  who,  in 
1713,  was  a  student  of  divinity  from  Franequer  in  Friesland, 
provided  he  would  assist  the  Greek  professor  in  teaching  his 
students."* 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  after  what  has  been  stated, 
that  wherever  they  went  they  were  kindly  treated.  Indeed, 
they  themselves  bear  testimony  to  this  with  lively  gratitude. 
De  Souligne,  the  grandson  of  the  celebrated  Protestant,  Du 
Plessis  Mornay,  in  a  pamphlet  upon  French  Popery,  re- 
printed in  Edinburgh  in  1699,  and  dedicated  to  the  House 
of  Commons,  says,  addressing  them,  "The  tender  care  and 
great  charity  which  you  have  manifested  towards  the  poor 
refugees  who  suffer  for  their  religion;  but  above  all,  the 
courage  and  zeal  you  have  discovered  in  this  last  war,  by 
sparing  nothing  that  was  necessary  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Protestant  interest,  have  made  it  gloriously  to  appear  to 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  that  you  value  neither  your  trea- 
sures nor  your  blood  when  there  is  a  necessity  of  spending 
them  in  defence  of  your  religion."  I  may  mention  in  pass- 
ing, that  this  grandson  of  Mornay  was  himself  one  of  tiie 
refugees,  and  that  he  was  the  first  to  expose  Popery  on  the 
side  of  its  political  and  social  evils.  The  pamphlet  from 
M^hich  I  have  quoted  is  a  very  able  one,  extending  to  one 
hundred  pages,  and  bearing  the  title,  "The  Political  Mis- 
chiefs of  Popery,  or  Arguments  demonstrating,  1.  That  the 
Romish  religion  ruins  all  those  countries  where  it  is  estab- 
lished, and  has  given  rise  to  most  of  the  mischiefs  that  have 
overspread  die  Christian  commonwealth.  2.  'J'hat,  as  an 
instance  hereof,  it  occasions  the  loss  of  above  two  hundred 
millions  of  livres,  or  ^16,000,000  sterling  per  annum,  to 
France  in  particular.  3.  That  if  Popery  were  abolished  in 
France,  that  kingdom  would  become  incomparably  more  rich 
and  populous,  and  the  kmg's  revenues  would  advance  above 
one  million  of  livres,  or  £8,000,000  sterling  per  annum.  4. 
That  it  is  impossible  that  France  should  ever  be  re-establish- 
*  Council  Register,  vol.  xli.,  p.  73. 


324  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

ed  whilst  Popery  is  their  national  religion."  No  one  who 
reads  this  rare  but  excellent  pamphlet,  can  doubt  that  the 
author  makes  out  his  point.  But  to  return  from  this  digres- 
sion to  the  kind  treatment  which  the  suffering  received  at  the 
hands  of  British  Christians.  An  aulhor  whom  I  have  quoted 
more  than  once,  and  who  wrote  shortly  after  the  revocation, 
says, — 

"  But  we  comfort  ourselves  likewise  in  the  Christian  com- 
passion showed  us  by  foreign  princes,  and  more  especially 
by  his  Majesty  of  England,  who  has  received  us  into  his 
countries,  succoured  and  relieved  us,  and  recommended  our 
distressed  condition  to  all  his  subjects;  and  we  have  found 
in  them  not  only  new  masters,  or  the  affections  of  new 
friends,  but  of  real  parents  and  brethren.  And  as  these 
bowels  of  commiseration  have  been  as  balm  to  our  wounds, 
so  we  shall  never  lose  the  remembrance  of  it,  and  hope  we 
nor  our  children  shall  ever  do  any  thing,  by  God's  grace, 
unworthy  of  any  of  these  their  protections." 

Contributions  were  made  in  their  behalf  by  the  Christians 
of  this  country.  So  early  as  1681,  collections  were  appoint- 
ed, and  subscriptions  raised  through  the  Bishop  and  Mayor 
of  London.  This  was  in  the  days  of  Charles  11.,  and  at  first 
sight  may  seem  strange.  But  it  does  not  prove  that  he  had 
any  real  compassion  for  the  French  refugees — a  compassion 
which  his  whole  history  belies.  It  only  shows  that  the  pub- 
lic feeling  in  their  behalf  was  very  general  and  strong,  and 
could  not  be  disregarded.  Even  James  II.,  the  great  friend 
of  Louis  XIV.,  and  the  most  bitter  enemy  of  Protestantism, 
w^hether  at  home  or  abroad,  we  are  informed  by  Burnet, 
made  a  contribution,  and  indicated  some  interest  in  behalf  of 
the  afflicted  refugees.  It  would  have  been  injurious  to  his 
Popish  policy  to  have  done  otherwise;  a  plain  proof  of 
which  is,  that  the  motive  of  Charles  in  showing  favour,  was 
at  the  lime  suspected  by  the  people.  Hence  it  was  necessary 
for  the  French  Protestant  ministers  in  London  to  certify  that 
their  countrymen  were  not  disguised  Papists,  before  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  contribution  could  be  extended  to  them.  It 
is  also  stated  by  Pierce,*  such  was  the  bigotry  which  was 
blended  with  humanity,  that  in  1683,  no  refugee  was  relieved, 
unless  he  first  took  the  Sacrament  according  to  the  forms  of 
the  Church  of  England. 

But  while  the  Popish  brothers   could  have  no  real  sym- 
pathy or  affection  for  Protestant  refugees,   the   Prince   of 
*  Vide  "Vindication  of  Dissenters." 


OF    FRANCE.  325 

Orange  and  the  Christian  people  of  Scotland  regarded  them 
with  the  deepest  kindness  and  commiseration.  Wodrow,  in 
his  MS.  Analecta,  states  that  it  is  well  known  that  William, 
when  Prince  of  Orange  in  Holland,  was  very  kind  to  the 
exiled  French  ministers  sojouring  in  that  country,  and  gave 
them  large  sums  from  his  own  purse.  He  also  mentions 
that,  when  they  waited  on  the  Prince  in  a  body  to  thank 
him,  he  received  them  affectionately,  and  blessed  God  who 
had  opened  his  mind  to  the  knowledge  of  saving  truth. 
When  raised  to  the  British  throne,  he  did  not  forget  the 
French  Protestants.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  a  declaration 
inviting  them  to  settle  in  this  country,  and  giving  the  com- 
mand of  ten  thousand  troops  to  counteract  the  proceedings 
of  James  and  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Ireland,  to  the  Duke 
of  Schomberg,  who  belonged  to  a  French  Protestant  family. 
In  1695,  not  less  than  £15,000  were  voted  by  Parliament 
for  the  relief  of  the  French  refugees — a  very  large  sum  in 
those  days ;  and  the  next  year  the  king  calls  upon  Parlia- 
ment to  provide  for  the  civil  list  and  the  French  Protestants 
together.  Indeed,  one  of  the  great  and  professed  objects  of 
the  allied  war  in  which  William  bore  so  prominent  a  part,  and 
the  British  troops  gained  so  much  honour,  was  for  the  rescue 
of  the  French  and  other  Protestants,  their  restoration  to  their 
goods,  and  liberty  of  conscience.  As  an  indication  of  the 
general  interest  which  was  felt  in  England  in  behalf  of  the 
refugees,  I  may  refer  to  the  "  Life  of  Mr.  George  Trosse," 
a  nonconformist  minister.  The  writer  says,  "The  French 
refugees,  those  noble  confessors  who  were  driven  hither  by 
the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  the  bloody  per- 
secution which  ensued,  had  large  supplies  from  his  bounty. 
To  one  French  minister  he  gave  £5  per  annum." 

As  usual,  the  Church  of  Scotland  w^as  not  behind  in  her 
liberality.  I  find  she  repeatedly  made  their  sufferings  a 
ground  for  the  appointment  of  fast-days;  that,  on  the  13th 
June,  1689,  there  was  a  collection  made  in  the  parish  church 
of  Dunfermline,  of  £52  16s.  lOd,  for  the  French  and  Irish 
Protestants.  There  can  be  no  doubt  this  was  general.  Di- 
rections are  given  that  it  be  delivered  to  Sir  Patrick  Murray, 
who  is  said  to  be  appointed  by  the  Privy  Council  for  that 
end.  At  the  same  time,  £50  Scots  were  contributed  by  the 
parish  of  Haddington.  At  a  later  day,  the  same  parish  sent 
a  sum  of  £48  for  the  use  of  "  the  Protestants  that  lied  from 
France  into  Saxony."  In  a  former  chapter  I  showed,  that 
so  early  as  1622  the  Presbytery  of  Glasgow  contributed  for 


326 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


the  relief  of  the  French  Protestants;  and  it  is  not  to  be  im- 
agined, when  they  actually  appeared  in  our  country,  in  pov- 
erty and  distress,  they  would  be  overlooked.  The  General 
Assembly,  in  1707,  presented  an  address  to  the  Queen, 
thanking  her  for  her  gracious  answer  to  the  address  of  their 
brethren,  the  distressed  and  persecuted  Protestants  of  France. 

In  1709,  the  British  Parliament  passed  a  bill  for  the  natu- 
ralization of  foreign  Protestants.  This  shows  both  that  they 
were  numerous,  and  that  the  feeling  of  our  country  toward 
them  was  kind.  So  recently  as  1829,  one  of  the  money 
votes  of  the  House  of  Commons  runs  in  these  words : — 
*' That  a  sum  not  exceeding  ^65812  7s.  lOd.  be  granted  to 
his  Majesty  to  pay  the  annual  allowance  to  Protestant  dis- 
senting ministers  in  England,  poor  French  Protestant  refu- 
gee clergy,  poor  French  Protestant  laity,"  &c.  This  would 
intimate,  not  only  that  Christian  churches,  but  that  the  Gov- 
ernment, had  taken  up  their  case;  and  that,  for  many  years, 
some  regular  provision  was  made  for  them  from  the  public 
purse  of  the  nation.  This  private  and  public  liberality  is  the 
more  creditable,  when  it  is  remembered,  that  in  1709,  when 
warmly  befriending  the  French  Protestants,  our  countrymen 
had  also  to  supply  the  w^ants  of  the  persecuted  Germans  from 
the  Palatinate.  Dr.  Calamy  states  in  his  Diary,  that  several 
thousands  of  these  came  over  to  Britain  at  this  time — not 
less  than  seven  thousand — that  a  large  sum  was  raised, 
which  was  carefully  distributed  among  them  by  commission- 
ers— that  five  hundred  families  were  sent  to  Ireland,  where, 
if  I  have  not  been  misinformed,  their  descendants  can  still  be 
traced,  many  to  Carolina,  and  a  number  returned  to  their  own 
country.  Indeed,  Britain  at  this  time  seems  to  have  been 
what  we  hope  she  will  ever  be — the  great  asylum  for  the  op- 
pressed and  the  persecuted  of  all  the  nations  of  the  world. 

Passing  from  the  history  of  those  of  the  Protestants  who 
left  France,  let  us  now  shortly  turn  our  attention  to  those 
who  remained  in  the  land  of  persecution.  These  were  still 
very  numerous ;  and  though  it  is  more  than  probable  the 
more  spiritual  were  among  the  emigrants,  still  there  can  be 
little  question  that  a  considerable  number  of  pious  men,  from 
various  causes,  remained.  Their  condition,  now  that  their 
pastors  and  the  most  devoted  of  the  laity  had  abandoned  the 
country,  was  one  of  great  danger  to  their  Christian  charac- 
ter, 'i'his,  accordingly,  soon  appeared.  About  a  year  after 
the  revocation  of  the  edict,  we  learn,  by  a  letter  from  Metz, 
that  in  a  church  which  was  wont  to  number  ten  thousand 


OP  FRANCE. 


327 


communicants,  there  were  only  two  who  did  not  sign  an  ab- 
juration of  Protestantism,  dictated  by  the  cruel  mercy  of 
dragoons.  It  is  very  probable  that  many  of  these  communi- 
cants had  previously  removed  from  France;  and  it  is  certain, 
that  though  for  the  sake  of  their  lives,  many  signed  the  docu- 
ment, they  did  not  believe  it.  They  add,  "  We  know  we 
have  subscribed,  but  we  know  also,  we  have  not  changed 
our  religion,  and  through  grace,  we  shall  never  change  it." 
However  they  reconciled  the  signing  of  this  abjuration  to 
their  consciences,  no  one  can  question  that  such  a  posture  of 
things  was  most  injurious  to  the  general  Christianity  of  the 
Protestant  population,  and  must  have  sadly  deteriorated  the 
character  of  those  who  gave  way  to  the  temptation.  So 
much  were  the  exiled  pastors  alive  to  this,  and  so  deeply  did 
they  feel  for  their  sutfering  flocks,  that  they  wrote  a  long, 
pathetic,  and  most  Christian  letter  to  them,  advising  them 
how  to  conduct  themselves  with  all  faithfulness.  It  is  en- 
tilled,  "  An  Epistle  to  our  Brethren  groaning  under  the  Cap- 
tivity of  Babylon,  for  whom  we  wish  the  mercy  and  peace 
of  our  God."  It  extends  to  five  closely  printed  folio  pages. 
I  extract  a  few  sentences  as  a  specimen  of  the  Christian 
spirit,  fidelity,  and  wisdom  of  the  whole. 

"  Keep  carefully  your  books  of  piety,  of  devotion,  and  of 
*  controversy,  and  read  them  with  singular  diligence  and  at- 
tention. Preserve  them,  by  hiding  and  conveying  them  from 
the  reach  and  search  of  your  persecutors.  Above  all,  keep, 
as  your  most  precious  jewels,  the  most  Holy  Bible,  and 
suffer  every  thing  rather  than  suffer  your  Bibles  to  be  snatched 
away  from  you.  Read  them  daily,  and  with  the  greatest 
devotion. 

"  Never  forget,  nor  spare  any  pains  or  expense  in  procur- 
ing from  foreign  countries  books  capable  of  instructing  and 
strengthening  you ;  and  when  as  the  priests  shall  have  rob- 
bed you  of  your  own,  cause  others  to  be  brought  you,  what- 
ever rates  you  pay  for  them. 

"  The  poor  country  peasants,  and  mechanics  in  towns  and 
cities,  by  reason  of  their  ignorance,  are  exposed  to  the  great- 
est dangers.  But  the  strong  ought  to  support  the  weak,  and 
you  must  earnestly  endeavour  each  other's  edification.  This 
you  may  do  as  you  travel  into  your  country  iiouses,  as  you 
walk  in  the  streets,  yea,  when  as  you  meet  one  another  in 
your  shops,  there  being  none  by  you  of  the  contrary  religion. 
Supply  these  poor  people  with  books  for  their  instruction, 
and  exhort  them,  without  ceasing,  to  bear  up  against  all  dis- 


328 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


coLiragements,  and  never  to  let  loose  their  hearts  unto  idola- 
try, but  contrarywise  to  detest  and  oppose  it  by  their  dis- 
courses, 

"  If  you  can  at  any  time  meet  together  secretly  by  night 
in  the  retirements  of  your  houses,  let  it  be  for  the  reading  of 
God's  Word,  and  of  good  books  capable  of  instructing  you; 
but  above  all,  for  prayer. 

"  By  reason  of  that  commerce  and  communion  you  are 
necessitated  to  hold  with  the  Papists,  endeavour  also  after 
their  conversion.  Who  knows  but  that  God  may  have  or- 
dained this  sore  persecution  for  this  very  end,  that  you  should 
carry  the  light  of  the  Gospel  into  the  very  bosom  of  Popery 
in  order  to  its  destruction. 

"  'Tis  visible  that  the  sinful  disorders  and  miscarriages  of 
your  conversations  have  brought  upon  you  those  fearful 
judgments  from  God  under  which  you  are  now  groaning. 
There  was  no  kind  of  worldliness  in  which  you  were  not 
engaged,  such  as  rich  household  goods,  vessels  of  silver, 
tapestry,  feasts,  gluttonies,  idle  days,  plays,  pastimes,  cloth 
of  silk  and  gold,  rings,  pearls,  and  jewels.  If  you  be  wise, 
your  first  reformation  must  begin  here ;  all  these  must  be 
rejected;  sell  your  tapestries,  your  silver  vessels;  wear  the 
plainest  woolsteds — have  nothing  to  do  Avith  silk  or  gold  at 
your  feasts  or  repasts.  Every  day  should  be  with  us  a  day 
of  prayers  and  tears — not  a  feasting  but  a  fasting  day. 

"  Family  duties,  family  prayer,  hath  been  either  neglected 
or  very  negligenUy  performed.  That  you  may  turn  away 
God's  wrath  from  you,  set  upon  the  religious  performance 
of  these  religious  duties.  Let  them  be  frequent,  prolonged, 
and  wiih  greater  fervency. 

" 'J'ake  a  special  care  of  your  poor  persecuted  brethren; 
give  liberally  towards  the  charges  of  their  escape.  All  things 
should  now  be  in  common  among  you,  and  no  person  should 
count  any  thing  his  own  whilst  his  poor  brother  needs  it. 
This  is  the  very  soul  of  Christianity,  and  if  you  thus  bestow 
it,  God  may  restore  again  unto  you  his  Gospel,  whereof  he 
hath  deprived  you. 

"  And  you  must  take  the  first  opportunity  you  can  of  de- 
parting. For  don't  fool  yourselves  with  this  imagination, 
that  you  shall  be  able  for  any  long  space  of  time  to  keep  the 
truth  of  God  in  the  land  of  Meshech.  Your  piety  will  gra- 
dually decay.  Your  children  having  never  known  any  other 
religion  than  the  Romish,  will  accustom  themselves  unto  it, 
and  never  desire  to  leave  their  country.     Wherefore  spare 


OF  FRANCE. 


329 


neither  pains,  diligence,  nor  costs,  that  you  may  be  trans- 
ported into  a  land  of  liberty.  And  look  not  back  behind  you 
to  carry  away  what  is  in  your  houses.  Whosoever  looks 
back  again  is  not  meet  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And 
though  you  were  stript  of  all  in  your  flight,  yet  you  would 
be  rich  enough  in  having  your  souls  given  you  for  a  prey. 
The  worst  that  can  befall  you  is  to  die  of  famine.  But  is 
that  kind  of  death  more  terrible  than  any  other?  Can  any 
death  be  dreadful  to  us  when  the  life  of  our  souls  lies  at 
stake,  and  the  glory  of  God  is  concerned  ? 

"  We  should  reckon  it  our  great  honour  to  be  debased, 
scorned,  impoverished,  stript  of  all  for  Christ  Jesus.  Our 
life  is  very  short.  No  matter  how  we  suffer  in  it.  Our  great 
concern  should  be  for  eternity.  We  live  and  work  for  eter- 
nity. My  brethren,  count  it  great  joy  when  you  fall  into 
divers  temptations." 

One  might  have  thought  that  the  Government,  led  on 
though  it  was  by  the  Popish  Church,  would  have  grown  tired 
of  persecution,  and  that  the  public  losses  sustained  by  tlte 
State,  in  the  removal  of  so  large  a  body  of  enterprising  and 
useful  citizens,  would  have  opened  their  eyes  to  the  impolicy, 
if  not  the  sin,  of  the  dreadful  course  which  they  had  been 
pursuing.  But  no;  Popery  is  blind.  The  hatred  of  the 
truth  of  God  is  stronger  than  the  love  of  outward  prosperity. 
Hence  the  work  of  oppression  still  went  forward.  Before 
the  century  was  completed — in  other  words,  in  the  course  of 
fourteen  years  from  the  revocation  of  the  edict,  we  read  of 
not  less  than  eight  additional  decrees  and  declarations,  all 
*' breathing  threatenings  and  slaughter"  against  the  poor  sur- 
viving Protestants.  Instead  of  their  being  any  mitigation,  as 
sometimes  happens,  the  subsequent  edicts  were  all  an  ag- 
gravation of  the  suffering,  and  this  continued  after  the  new 
century  was  entered  upon.  A  frequent  punishment  for  males 
was  still  to  send  them  to  the  galleys,  and  work  them  in 
chains.  One  of  the  number,  we  have  seen,  was  M.  De 
Marolles.  His  case  is  interesting.  He  had  been  chancellor 
to  the  king,  but  was  condemned  to  the  galleys  for  his  Pro- 
testantism in  1685.  Here  he  remained  for  seven  long  years, 
and  died  in  a  dungeon.  Besides  being  an  eminent  Christian, 
he  was  a  distinguished  philosopher,  mathematician,  and  alge- 
braist, a  proof  of  which  is,  that  he  solved  many  difficult 
problems  while  lying  with  a  weight  of  thirty  pounds  about 
his  neck.  It  is  remarkable,  that  the  year  in  which  the  suf- 
ferings  of  this  distinguished  man  began— the  year  1685— 


330 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


and  in  which  the  edict  was  revoked,  was  the  year  also  in 
which  the  liottest  persecutions  were  going  forward  in  Scot- 
land— as  if  the  monster  were  moving  in  different  lands  at 
the  same  moment.  Not  less  than  twenty  out  of  the  one 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  Scottish  martyrs  who  were  mocked 
with  the  semblance  of  a  public  trial  and  legal  forms,  were 
put  to  death  in  this  year  of  blood;  and  of  the  vast  multitude 
who,  in  the  course  of  twenty-eight  years,  were  sufferers  for 
the  supremacy  of  the  King  of  saints,  without  any  trial  at 
all,  not  less  than  forty-four  were  murdered  in  five  short  weeks 
of  this  terrible  year.  In  one  of  these  weeks,  the  more  than 
semi-Popish  tyrant,  Charles  II.,  M'as  called  to  give  up  his 
account.  He  might  be  said  to  leave  the  world  in  a  shower 
of  blood. 

I  have  stated  that  the  work  of  persecution  continued  in 
France,  and  though  afraid  to  weary  and  sicken  the  reader 
with  additional  proofs,  I  must  shorUy  refer  to  the  new  and 
peculiar  form  which  it  assumed.  Passing  over  the  various 
suffering  which  stains  the  records  of  the  country,  from  1685 
down  to  1700,  we  are  introduced,  at  the  last  date,  to  a  fear- 
ful struggle  which  lasted  for  several  years.  It  was  in  the 
south  of  France,  in  the  mountainous  district  of  the  Cevennes, 
that  the  Protestants,  after  all  the  extermination  which  had 
been  wrought,  still  prevailed.  Like  their  brethren,  the  Wal- 
denses  and  Albigenses,  they  lived  among  the  fastnesses 
of  nature,  which  partially  afforded  that  protection  which 
man  denied.  The  pastors  had  now  been  driven  from  their 
flocks.  Multitudes  had  been  sent  into  hopeless  foreign 
exile.  The  galley  oar,  the  dungeon,  and  the  scaffold,  had 
terminated  many  a  holy  life.  The  strength  of  Protestant- 
ism was  now  concentrated  among  the  mountainous  and  in- 
accessible retreats  of  the  south.  This  was  like  the  last 
battle-field.  The  Popish  Government  and  party  determin- 
ed to  exterminate  the  rebels,  as  they  accounted  them,  and 
so  restore  peace  to  France.  On  the  other  hand,  not  a 
few  of  the  Hugonots,  now  reduced  to  a  suffering  remnant, 
and  driven,  by  years  of  woe,  to  madness  and  despair,  re- 
solved to  take  up  arms  and  sell  their  lives  at  the  dearest 
rate.  Hence  the  Camisard  war,  so  styled  from  the  white 
frocks  which  the  peasants,  who  were  the  chief  actors,  wore. 
Many,  perhaps  most  of  the  Protestants,  disapproved  of  this 
form  and  kind  of  resistance,  and  condemned  the  spirit  of  re- 
taliation which  was  displayed.  A  Synod  of  the  Swiss 
Church  remonstrated  in  the  strongest  manner.     The  Re- 


OF    FRANCE.  331 

formed  Church  of  France  then  cannot,  with  propriety,  be 
held  responsible  for  the  result.  But  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  that  oppression  made  wise  men  mad.  The  Camisards 
numbered  from  six  thousand  to  ten  thousand  persons  able 
to  carry  arms.  They  were  distributed  over  the  country,  in 
parlies  of  a  few  hundreds,  familiarly  acquainted  with  mountain 
passes  and  retreats,  and  able,  at  a  small  risk  to  themselves, 
to  inflict  serious  injury  upon  their  persecuters.  They  were 
headed,  not  by  captains  or  pastors  regularly  educated,  but 
by  bold  untaught  young  men,  who  joined  the  soldier  and  the 
preacher  in  the  same  person.  Fired  with  the  warmest  en- 
thusiasm, some  of  them  guided  by  prophetic  impulse,  and 
accounting  themselves  the  commissioned  messengers  of  hea- 
ven, the  deepest  religious  feeling  mingled  with  the  struggle. 
The  enemy  was  repeatedly  paralysed  before  their  religious 
fervour;  and  their  moral  character  corresponded  with  their 
religious  profession.  We  are  informed  that  there  were  no 
quarrels  nor  slanderings  among  them,  that  oaths  and  ob- 
scenity were  unknown,  that  goods  were  held  in  common, 
and  that  they  addressed  their  chief  as  brother.*  In  short, 
th'ey  discovered  high  moral  propriety  and  the  greatest  bro- 
therly love.  So  deep  and  general  was  the  enthusiasm,  that 
women — wives  and  daughters — gladly  bore  a  part  in  the 
warfare,  and  astonished  even  their  enemies  with  deeds  of 
surpassing  valour;  and  severely  were  they  tried.  'J'his  civil 
war  of  the  mountains  lasted  for  four  successive  years,  by  day 
and  by  night,  in  summer  and  amid  the  snows  and  storms  of 
winter.  Large  districts  of  many  square  miles  were  laid  waste 
with  fire  and  sword  by  the  Popish  troops.  In  one  case  one 
hundred  and  sixty-six,  in  another  four  hundred  and  sixty-six, 
hamlets  and  villages  were  devastated  at  once,  and  the  horrors 
of  winter  were  added  to  those  of  conflagration.  The  worst 
banditti  were  let  loose  against  the  peasants.  Proved  felons 
were  preferred  to  them,  and  the  Court  and  Popish  Bishop, 
instead  of  showing  any  commiseration,  applauded  the  most 
atrocious  proceedings;  nay,  tlie  Pope  granted  the  pardon  of 
sin  to  all  who  imbrued  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  the  pea- 
santry. But  with  all  this,  the  Camisards  were  successful  in 
many  engagements,  and  instead  of  being  destroyed  because 
they  resisted,  their  resistance  procured  them  better  terms  of 
peace  than  they  would  otherwise  have  enjoyed.  Indeed, 
there  is  reason  to  think,  that  had  they  started  earlier,  and 

*  Browning's  History  of  the  Hugonots,  p.  259. 


332  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

conducted  a  wise  and  vigorous  opposition  throughout,  they 
might  have  procured  a  favourable  pacification,  not  only  for 
themselves,  but  for  the  Protestants  of  France  generally. 
Even  as  it  was,  they  were  not  overcome.  They  gave  in, 
but  it  was  at  the  persuasions  of  a  Protestant  noble.  Their 
leading  chief,  Cavallier,  though  young  and  plebeian,  received 
an  important  command  in  the  French  army,  and  died  hold- 
ing an  honoured  place  in  the  British  service;  and,  at  least 
for  a  season,  which  only  bad  faith  interrupted,  the  Camisards 
obtained  the  great  object  for  which  they  toiled  and  sacri- 
ficed, freedom  of  religious  worship — a  freedom  which  filled 
them  with  joy,  and  made  the  country  resound  with  the  voice 
of  psalms.  Doubtless,  their  struggle  was  not  unstained  with 
bloody  revenge — but  this  is  justly  attributable  to  the  dire 
persecution  which  they  suffered.  The  oppressor,  in  the 
eye  of  reason,  is  responsible  for  the  aroused  passion  of  the 
oppressed.  What  could  be  expected  of  men  who  knew 
that  certain  death  awaited  them  the  moment  they  fell  into 
the  hands  of  their  Popish  enemies? — that,  in  all  the  consi- 
derable towns  and  villages  of  the  district,  the  gibbet  was 
ever  standing  ready,  and  the  executioner  within  call?  What 
could  be  expected  of  men  who  knew  that  their  very  psalm 
singing  inspired  with  deadly  hatred,  and,  to  use  the  language 
of  a  Roman  Catholic  general  employed  against  them,  "  blis- 
tered, not  only  the  ears,  but  the  skins  of  the  (Popish)  cler- 
gy?"— or  what  peace  or  toleration  could  be  looked  for  from 
men  animated  by  such  a  spirit?  What  prospect  of  safety 
but  in  resistance?  It  may  be  added,  that  so  righteous  did 
both  England  and  Holland  account  the  struggle  of  the  Ca- 
misards, that  steps  were  taken  to  assist  them,  though  the 
good  intention  was  not  rendered  effectual. 

A  striking  proof  of  the  strength  and  power  of  the  perse- 
cution, may  be  found  in  the  appearance  of  the  poor  fanatics, 
called  the  French  prophets,  in  1703.  These  men  arose 
among  the  Protestants  of  Dauphiny,  and  pretended  to  pro- 
phetic gifts  and  miraculous  powers.  About  1709,  a  body  of 
them  came  over  to  England,  and  gathered  a  considerable 
number  of  followers.  The  French  Protestant  ministers  in 
London  used  all  their  influence  to  expose  their  delusions  and 
repress  them.  Dr.  Calamy  preached  a  series  of  sermons  on 
the  subject,  and  Government  in  one  case  interfered.  Still 
they  succeeded  in  making  some  progress,  and  appeared  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  in  Scotland  as  well  as  England, 
for  some  subsequent  years.     There  can  be  little  doubt  that, 


or   FRANCE.  333 

in  France,  they  were  one  of  the  spurious  fruits  of  protracted 
persecution.  In  such  circumstances,  many  minds  gel  un- 
hinged and  excited,  and  men  betake  themselves  to  the  pro- 
phecies of  the  future  as  a  refuge  from  the  misery  of  the  pre- 
sent. Hence  mysticism,  and  claims  to  inspiration,  and  ex- 
travagant proceedings  of  a  religious  kind,  fraquently  appear 
in  persecuting  times.  The  persecutor  may  justly  be  held 
responsible  for  these  evils. 

The  progress  of  the  persecution,  though  severe,  was  at- 
tended, in  some  cases,  with  good.  M.  Bion,  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic priest,  was  converted  by  it  to  Protestantism.  He  says, 
"  In  the  year  1703,  several  Protestants  of  Languedoc  and  the 
Cevennes  were  put  on  board  our  galleys.  They  were  nar- 
rowly watched  and  observed,  and  I  was  exceedingly  sur- 
prised on  Sunday  morning,  after  saying  mass  on  the  ban- 
cafTe,  (a  table  so  placed,  that  all  in  the  galley  may  see  the 
priest  when  he  elevates  the  host,)  to  hear  the  comite,  (an 
officer  similar  to  a  boatswain  of  a  ship,)  say  he  was  going  to 
give  the  Hugonots  the  bastinado,  because  they  did  not  kneel 
or  show  respect  to  the  mysteries  of  the  mass,  and  that  he 
was  proceeding  to  acquaint  the  captain  therewith.  The  very 
name  of  bastinado  terrified  me;  and  though  I  had  never  seen 
this  dreadful  execution,  I  begged  the  comite  to  forbear  till  the 
next  Sunday,  and  said  that  in  the  meantime  I  would  endea- 
vour to  convince  them  of  what  I  then  thought  their  duty  and 
my  own.  Accordingly,  I  tried  all  the  methods  I  could  pos- 
sibly think  of  for  that  purpose;  sometimes  making  use  of 
fair  means,  giving  them  victuals  and  doing  them  good  offices; 
sometimes  using  threats,  and  representing  the  torments  that 
were  designed  for  them ;  and  often  urging  the  king's  com- 
mand, and  quoting  the  passage  of  St.  Paul,  '  that  he  who  re- 
sists the  higher  power,  resists  God.'  I  had  not  at  that  time 
a  design  to  oblige  them  to  do  any  thing  against  their  con- 
sciences; and  1  confess,  that  what  I  did  proceeded  from  a 
motive  of  pity  and  tenderness.  This  was  the  cause  of  my 
zeal,  which  would  have  been  more  fatal  to  them,  had  not 
God  endued  them  with  sufficient  resolution  and  virtue  to 
bear  up  against  my  arguments  and  the  terrible  execution 
which  they  had  in  view.  I  could  not  but  admire  the  mo- 
desty of  their  answers,  and  the  greatness  of  their  courage. 
'  The  king,'  said  they,  *  is  indeed  the  master  of  our  bodies, 
but  not  of  our  consciences.' 

"  At  last,  the  dreadful  day  being  come,  the  comite  narrow- 
ly observed  them,  to  see  the  fruit  of  my  labours.     There 


334 


PROTESTANT    CHTIRCH 


were  only  two  out  of  twenty  that  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal: 
the  rest  generously  refused  it,  and  were  accorduigly,  by  the 
captain's  command,  served  in  the  manner  following: — In  or- 
der to  the  execution,  every  man's  chains  were  taken  off,  and 
they  were  put  successively  into  the  hands  of  four  Turks, 
who  stripped  them  stark  naked  and  stretched  them  upon  the 
coursier,   (a  great  gun,  near  the  stern  of  the  galley,  which 
carried  six  and  thirty  pound  ball;)    there  they  are  so  held 
that  tliey  cannot  so  much  as  stir,  during  which  time  there  is 
a  horrid  silence  throughout  the  whole  galley  ;   and  it  is  alto- 
gether so  cruel  a  scene,   that  the  most  profligate,  obdurate 
wretches  cannot  bear  to  dwell  upon  the  sight,  but  are  often 
obliged  to  turn  away  their  eyes.    The  victim  being  thus  pre- 
pared,  the  Turk  chosen  to  be  the  executioner,  with  a  long 
cudgel,  or  knotty  rope's  end,  unmercifully  beats  the  poor 
wretch,  and  that  the  more  willingly,  because  he  thinks  it  ac- 
ceptable to  his  prophet  Mahomet.     But  the  most  barbarous 
of  all  is,  that  often  the  skin  is  flayed  off  from  their  bodies. 
The  only  balsam  applied  to   their   wounds  is   a  mixture  of 
vinegar  and  salt;  after  this  they  are  thrown  into  the  hospital 
already  described.     I  went  thither  after  the  execution,  and 
could  not  refrain  from  tears  at  so  much  barbarit3^     They 
perceived  it,  and   though  scarcely   able   to  speak,  through 
weakness  and  pain,  they  thanked  me  for  the  compassion  I 
expressed,  and  for  the  kindness  I  had  always  shown  to  them. 
I  went  with  a  design  to  administer  some  comfort  to  them, 
and  was  glad  to  find  them  less  moved  than  I  was  myself.    It 
was  truly  wonderful  to  see  with  what  patience  and  Christian 
constancy  they  bore  their  torments;  in  the  midst  of  their 
pains  never  expressing  any  thing  like  rage,  but  calling  upon 
Almighty  God,  and  imploring  his  assistance.    I  visited  them 
day  by  day;  and  as  often  as  I  did,  my  conscience  upbraided 
me  for  persisting  so  long  in  a  religion  whose  capital  errors  I 
had  before  perceived;  but,  above  all,  which  inspired  so  much 
cruelty — a  temper  directly  opposite  to  the  spirit  of  Christian- 
ity.    At  last,  their  wounds,  like  so  many  moutlis  preaching 
to  me,  made  me  sensible  of  my  errors,  and  experimentally 
taught  me  the  excellence  of  the  Protestant  religion.     But  it 
is  time  to  conclude,   and  draw  a  curtain   over  this  horrid 
scene,  which  presents  none  but  ghasUy  sights  and  transac- 
tions full  of  barbarity,  but  which  all  show  how  false  it  is 
what  they  now  pretend  in  France  for  detaining  the  Protes- 
tants in  the  galleys,  viz.  that  they  do  not  suffer  there  on  a 
religious  account,  but  are  condemned  for  rebellion  and  dis- 


OF    FRANCE.  335 

obedience.  The  punishments  inflicted  on  them  when  they 
refuse  to  adore  the  host,  the  rewards  and  advantages  oflered 
on  their  compliance  in  that  particukir,  are  a  sufllcient  argu- 
ment against  the  above  pretence,  there  being  no  such  offers 
made  to  those  condemned  for  crimes.  It  shows  the  world, 
also,  the  most  incredible  barbarity  practised  against  the 
French  Protestants;  and,  at  the  same  time,  sets  forth,  in  a 
manner  the  most  honourable,  their  virtue,  their  constancy, 
and  zeal  for  their  holy  religion." 

The  peace  of  Utrecht,  in  1713,  which  closed  the  desola- 
ting wars,  in  which  France  alone  had  been  engaged  against 
the  confederated  Protestant  powers  of  Europe,  with  the  Duke 
of  Marlborough  at  their  head,  did  not  procure  almost  any 
relief  to  the  poor  French  Protestants.  They  had  long  been 
looking  forward  to  this,  and,  when  the  hour  arrived,  made 
assiduous  application;  but  though  the  British  Queen  was 
their  friend,  and  their  case  was  represented  at  the  council, 
and  though  the  French  Popish  party  acknowledged  that,  but 
for  this  peace,  the  ruin  and  destruction  of  their  country  had 
been  inevitable,  yet,  in  spite  of  all  these  propitious  circuni- 
stances,  to  use  the  language  of  Calamy,  "they  were  left  in 
the  same  destitute  condition  they  w^ere  in  before,  with  the 
exception  only  of  some  slaves  being  released  from  the  gal- 
leys." It  should  be  remembered,  to  the  honour  of  Britain, 
that  through  the  intercession  of  her  successive  monarchs, 
one  hundred  and  thirty-six  captives  were  released  in  1713; 
in  the  next  year,  seventy ;  and  at  different  times  during  the 
reign  of  George  I.,  &c.,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty. 
This  country,  it  is  believed,  was  n»ore  successful  than  any 
foreign  Protestant  power  in  this  good  cause.  At  the  same 
time,  it  is  to  be  remembered  with  sorrow,  that,  in  1713,  not 
less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  Protestants  still  re- 
mained captive  in  the  galleys  of  France. 

I  must  draw  this  part  of  the  subject  to  a  close,  and  I  know 
not  a  more  appropriate  termination  than  the  death  of  Louis 
XIV.,  the  great  instrument,  if  not  prime  author,  of  all  the 
horrors  we  have  been  contemplating.  This  event  took  place 
in  August  1714.  Though  a  very  old  man,  it  is  believed  a 
scheme  was  in  contemplation  most  formidable  to  the  Protes- 
tant liberties  of  Europe  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Had  he 
been  spared  a  little  longer,  he  was  to  have  been  at  the  head 
of  a  new  Roman  Catholic  league,  better  cemented  than  its 
predecessors.  But  amid  these  schemes,  and  with  thousands 
on  thousands  of  his  best  subjects  suflfering  both  at  home  and 


336  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

in  foreign  lands,  he  was  called  hence.  The  death  of  this 
most  powerful  enemy  of  the  Protestant  cause  produced  a 
great  impression  in  this  country,  and  indeed  over  Europe, 
sadly  disconcerting  the  Popish  party  and  their  friends, 
while  it  gave  new  hope  and  courage  to  the  Protestants.  It 
is  not  presumptuous  to  expect  that,  even  in  this  life,  we 
should  be  able  to  trace  something  of  a  moral  retribution  for 
crimes  so  flagrant  and  wanton  as  those  of  Louis.  There  is 
nothing  for  which  God  will  more  certainly  visit  than  the  per- 
secution of  his  people;  and  therefore,  without  meaning  to 
forget  the  Divine  declaration,  "Vengeance  is  mine,  I  will 
repay,  saith  the  Lord,"  I  think  I  may  safely  request  the 
reader  to  mark  the  visible  judgments  which  rested  on  this 
persecutor's  family  and  kingdom.  He  may  have  been  a 
patron  of  literature  and  learning;  he  may  have  encouraged 
the  arts ;  in  some  respects  his  reign  may  be  said  to  be  the 
most  brilliant  in  French  history :  it  was  the  age  of  Fenelon, 
and  Bossuet,  and  Massillon.  It  is  said,  too,  by  Madam 
Maintenon,  "  that  he  sometimes  read  his  Bible,  and  was  of 
opinion  it  is  the  finest  of  all  books  ;"  but,  personally,  he  was 
a  profligate,  and  eminendy  he  was  an  enemy  of  the  people 
of  God.  In  reference  to  this,  ]3r.  Calamy  remarks,  that, 
perhaps,  he  wrought  more  evil  than  any  single  individual  in 
his  lifetime.  It  is  estimated  that  three  hundred  thousand 
lost  their  lives  through  his  instrumentality.  Not  only  did 
he  oppress  the  Protestants  in  France,  but  it  was  he  who 
was  at  the  root  of  no  small  part  of  the  troubles  of  this 
country.  It  was  he  who,  by  advice,  and  men,  and  treasure, 
laboured  to  make  the  throne  of  Britain  a  Popish  throne;  and, 
when  disappointed  here,  encouraged  and  assisted  the  Preten- 
der in  his  attempts  to  embroil  the  nation.  And  what  was 
the  result  of  the  whole?  Did  he  escape  the  moral  government 
of  God?  Was  his  career  one  of  unbroken  worldly  glory?  If 
he  had  died  before  lifting  up  his  hand  against  the  Protestant 
Church,  his  name  might  have  been  great,  in  the  sense  in 
which  sovereigns  are  frequently  great.  But  shortly  after  the 
destruction  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  an  attempt  to  build 
up  for  himself  a  power  which  was  to  overawe  Europe,  he 
provoked  the  Protestant  feeling  of  Christendom,  and,  under 
the  arms  of  Marlborough  and  his  associates,  he  fell.  Year 
after  year  his  once  victorious  troops  were  worsted  and  cut 
down.  For  nme  years,  from  1702  to  1711,  his  reign  was 
one  continued  series  of  calamities  and  defeats;  and  now  that 
he  himself  was  suffering  under  smart  affliction  of  body,  as 


OF    FRANCE.  337 

afterwards  of  depressing  melancholy  of  mind,  he  had  the 
bitter  mortification  of  seeing  the  places  taken  from  him, 
Avhich,  at  an  earlier  day,  had  cost  him  so  much  money  and 
blood,  and  had  crowned  his  name  with  military  renown.  In 
one  short  season,  he  who  had  made  so  many  parents  child- 
less, and  broken  the  peace  of  so  many  famihes,  was  deprived 
of  his  son  at  fifty;  his  grandson,  the  pupil  of  Fenelon,  at 
thirty;  and  a  child  of  his;  so  that  three  dauphins  were  cut 
off  in  a  single  year.  These  were  most  bitter  bereavements 
to  the  king.  A  writer,  who  lived  at  that  period,  uses  the 
striking  expression — Providence  seemed  to  be  "  breaking 
Louis  upon  the  wheel,"  by  destroying  his  posterity,  upon 
whom  he  valued  himself  so  much,  that  he  used  to  boast  he 
was  the  only  king  of  France  that  had  ever  seen  great  grand- 
children. Moreover,  his  descendants  were  the  hope  of  his 
allies  as  well  as  his  own  comfort.  And  how  did  he  leave 
his  country?  He  left  it  full  of  faction,  political  and  ecclesias- 
tical, in  debt  £300,000,000  sterling,  which  was  a  great  sum 
for  those  days.  Worn  out  and  exhausted,  the  vain  old  man 
made  a  will,  by  which  he  seemed  to  hope  to  rule  after  death 
as  well  as  when  alive;  but  scarcely  had  he  died,  before  it 
was  traversed  and  trampled  upon  in  its  most  material  parts. 
While  hired  literati  lauded,  the  people  generally  hated  and 
despised  him;  so  that  there  was  a  burst  of  indecent  popular 
joy  on  the  tidings  of  his  death  and  on  the  day  of  his  funeral. 
Thus  perished  a  man  who  made  the  world  to  tremble.  In 
his  old  age,  broken  in  his  family,  broken  in  his  kingdom, 
and  leaving  to  his  successor  an  empire  ripening  for  the  judg- 
ments of  heaven.  Vain  is  it  for  man  to  fight  with  God. 
"  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me  ?  It  is  hard  for  thee 
to  kick  against  the  pricks." 

While  it  becomes  us  thus  to  mark  the  moral  government 
of  Heaven,  it  is  our  duty  also  to  cherish  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tian meekness  and  forgiveness.  Saurin,  an  eminent  French 
Protestant  minister,  when  in  exile,  finely  addresses  the  tyrant 
monarch — and  his  sentiments  are  certainly  those  which 
every  Christian  should  cherish  :  "  And  thou,  dreadful  prince  ! 
whom  1  once  honoured  as  my  king,  and  whom  I  yet  respect 
as  a  scourge  in  the  hand  of  Almighty  God,  thou  also  shalt 
have  a  part  in  my  good  wishes.  These  provinces  (Holland) 
which  thou  threatenest,  but  which  the  arm  of  the  Lord  pro- 
tects— this  country  which  thou  fillest  with  refugees,  but 
fugitives  animated  with  love— these  walls  which  contain  a 
thousand  martyrs  of  thy  making,  but  whom  religion  renders 

22 


338  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

victorious — all  these  yet  resound  benedictions  in  thy  favour. 
God  grant  that  the  fatal  bandage  which  hides  the  truth  from 
thine  eyes  may  fall  off!  May  God  forget  the  rivers  of  blood 
with  which  thou  hast  deluged  the  earth,  and  which  thy  reign 
hath  caused  to  be  shed.  May  God  blot  out  of  his  book  the 
injuries  which  thou  hast  done  us;  and  while  he  rewards  the 
sufferers,  may  he  pardon  those  who  exposed  us  to  suffer. 
Oh !  may  God,  who  hath  made  thee  to  us  and  to  the  whole 
Church  a  ministerof  his  judgments,  make  thee  a  dispenser  of 
his  favours  and  administrator  of  his  mercy."* 

*  Some  of  the  sad  points  referred  to  above,  in  the  experience  and 
character  of  Louis,  have  appeared  in  the  case  of  other  persecutors. 
Thus,  Charles  IX.,  a  predecessor,  and  the  instigator  of  the  St.  Bar- 
tholomew  massacre — the  man  who  said,  in  reference  to  the  mortal 
remains  of  the  Hugonots,  that  the  "  body  of  a  dead  enemy  always 
smelled  sweet,"  and  who  sent  a  messenger  all  the  way  to  Rome,  to 
tell  the  Pope,  that  "  the  Seine  flowed  on  more  majestically  after  re- 
ceiving the  bodies  of  the  murdered  heretics" — the  man  who  left  the 
couch  where  his  first-born  had  been  brought  forth,  and  hurried  straight- 
way to  the  sight  of  Protestant  executions ; — this  man,  hardened  and 
insensible  as  he  may  seem,  was,  under  the  moral  government  of  God, 
visited  with  awful  compunctions.  Pare,  his  body  surgeon,  was  a 
Protestant,  and  was  wonderfully  preserved.  He  relates,  that  after 
the  fatal  deed,  the  king  used  often  to  come  to  him,  and  confessed,  that 
from  the  beginning  of  the  massacre,  he  felt  as  if  he  had  been  in  a  high 
fever,  and  that  the  figures  of  the  murdered,  with  their  faces  besmear- 
ed  with  blood,  seemed  to  start  up  every  moment  before  his  eyes,  both 
while  he  slept  and  while  awake.  What  a  fearful  punishment !  The 
reader  will  remember  that  he  died  in  three  years  after,  of  a  strange 
and  bloody  disease. 

It  was  noted  that  Louis  XIV.,  was  a  patron  of  literature,  and  yet 
that  the  persecution  took  place  in  his  Augustan  era — an  obvious  proof 
that  mere  knowledge  cannot  restrain,  and  far  less  extinguish,  the  in- 
tolerant spirit  of  Popery.  This  is  not  a  singular  instance.  Gregory 
XIII.,  the  Pope  who  rejoiced  in  the  St.  Bartholomew  massacre,  struck 
medals  of  different  metals,  and  granted  a  jubilee,  to  which  one  hun- 
dred thousand  pilgrims  flocked  to  Rome  in  honour  of  it,  was  not  only 
a  kind  and  humane  man,  but  was  one  of  the  most  learned  of  the 
Popes.  He  was  a  man  of  so  much  science,  that  he  converted  the 
Julian  into  the  Gregorian  year;  and  3'et  he  was  the  patron  of  that 
horrible  deed,  which.  Sully  tells  us,  was  punished  by  the  vengeance 
of  Heaven,  in  national  disasters  and  distractions  of  twenty-six  years' 
duration.  How  vain,  then,  is  it  to  think  that  the  intellectual  progress 
of  the  nineteenth  century  can  change  Popery,  and  make  it  harmless 
and  good ! 


OF    FRANCE.  339 


CONTEMPORANEOUS  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH   OF 
SCOTLAND,  FROM  1688  TO  1715. 

God,  for  his  all-wise  purposes,  seems  to  have  treated  differ- 
ent Churches  of  the  Reformation  from  Popery  in  different 
ways.  In  some  countries,  as  Italy,  Poland,  and  Spain,  he 
suffered  Protestantism  to  be  utterly  extinguished  by  the  vio- 
lence of  protracted  persecution.  In  other  quarters,  as  in 
Britain,  and  HoUand,  and  Germany,  he  blessed  it  witli  a 
speedy  triumph  over  its  enemies,  which,  in  spite  of  occa- 
sional assaults  and  declensions,  it  maintains  to  the  present 
day.  In  the  case  of  France,  his  treatment  of  the  Christian 
Church  was  mingled.  Protestantism  was  neither  allowed  to 
be  extinguished,  nor  to  triumph.  It  was  called  upon  to  oc- 
cupy a  middle  space — to  maintain  a  perpetual  contest  down 
to  1685,  when  it  might  be  said  to  be  nationally  overthrown. 
There  is,  then,  at  this  period  of  history,  a  grand  contrast 
between  the  Church  of  Scotland  and  the  Church  of  France. 
While  the  Church  of  France  was  broken  up  in  a  way  from 
which  she  has  never  recovered,  the  Church  of  Scotland 
started  forth  from  the  Revolution  of  1688  into  new  vigour, 
and  was  soon  introduced  to  what  may  be  called  her  third  era 
of  Reformation. 

But  before  entering  on  the  consideration  of  this  noble  pe- 
riod, it  will  be  necessary  to  advert  to  the  state  of  things  in 
Europe  generally,  and  in  Scotland  in  particular,  at  the  Revo- 
lution. We  have  already  remarked,  that  the  hand  of  Divine 
Providence  was  most  conspicuously  manifested  in  bringing 
about  that  great  event.  The  darkness  was  deepest  just 
before  the  light  burst  forth.  Bishop  Burnet  remarks, 
that  among  the  different  crises  of  the  Protestant  religion,  of 
which  he  enumerates  five,  the  year  1685  may  be  considered 
one.  In  February,  the  King  of  Britain  (James  II.)  declared 
himself  a  papist.  In  June,  the  crown  of  the  Elector  Palatine 
of  Germany  went  to  a  bigoted  Popish  family.  In  October, 
the  Edict  of  Nantes— the  protective  shield  of  the  Protestants 
of  France — was  withdrawn.  In  December,  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  withdrew  a  similar  protection  from  his  Protestant 
subjects — the  long  persecuted  Vaudois.  No  prospects  could 
be  more  dismal.  But  in  three  short  years  the  cloud  begins 
to  break  up.  As  the  most  important  step  of  the  whole,  the 
British  Papist  is  set  aside,  and  a  Protestant  prince  from  Hol- 
land, specially  upon   Protestant   grounds,  is   called  to  the 


340  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

throne.  Though  as  we  have  seen,  the  oppression  of  the 
Protestants  in  France  continued,  yet  a  place  of  refuge  was 
afforded  in  this  and  other  Protestant  countries,  to  as  many 
as  chose,  or  were  permitted,  to  emigrate.  The  next  effect 
of  the  British  Revolution  was  to  put  a  period  to  the  persecu- 
tions of  Piedmont.  As  the  influence  of  Cromwell  at  an 
earlier  day  had  been  exerted  in  the  same  cause,  so  now  the 
reflex  influence  of  the  British  Revolution  reached  the  valleys 
of  the  Duke  of  Savoy.  The  cruelties  had  been  very  shock- 
ino-.  As  a  specimen,  we  may  mention  that  twelve  thousand 
poor  prisoners — men,  women,  and  children — were  shut  up 
in  fourteen  prisons,  castles,  and  strongholds,  choked  together 
» during  the  heat  of  summer  and  the  cold  of  winter.  In  a 
short  time,  eight  thousand  out  of  the  twelve  thousand  perish- 
ed from  the  effects  of  the  cruel  treatment  to  which  they  were 
subjected.  Burnet,  who  was  on  the  Continent  at  the  time, 
states  in  his  "  Letters,"  that  the  Court  affected  to  be  asham- 
ed of  the  persecution,  and  alleged  that  the  Duke  had  been 
reluctanfly  constrained  into  it  to  please  France,  a  country 
which  seems  to  have  wished  to  be  kept  in  countenance  in 
her  course  of  blood,  by  similar  proceedings  among  her  neigh- 
bours. It  is  stated  also,  that,  according  to  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  Duke  himself,  the  Vaudois  Protestants  were  his 
most  faithful,  industrious,  and  profitable  subjects,  and  had 
proved  eminendy  loyal  in  a  recent  war;  but  that  the  French 
king  insisted  they  should  be  treated  in  the  same  way  as  his 
Protestant  subjects,  otherwise  he  would  send  troops  himself 
for  the  purpose.  It  is  on  this  that  Jurieu,  the  French  Pro- 
testant minister,  in  his  book  on  the  "  Prophecies,"  exclaims, 
"  All  other  persecutors  have  been  content  to  persecute  their 
own  subjects  or  countrymen;  but  behold  persons  who,  after 
they  have  reduced  the  subjects  of  their  own  king  to  the  ut- 
most extremities,  go  and  make  themselves  the  hangmen  and 
murderers  of  the  subjects  of  foreign  princes  !"-^'  But  the  Pro- 
testantism of  Europe  was  reassured  and  reinvigorated  by  the 
Protestant  Revolution  of  so  powerful  a  country  as  Britain; 
and  in  1689,  between  eight  and  nine  hundred  Vaudois  re- 
turned to  their  native  valleys,  headed  by  M.  Arnaud,  a  minis- 
ter, and  took  successful  possession  of  the  land  of  their  fathers, 
severely  retaliating  the  harsh  treatment  under  which  they 
and  their  countrymen  had  been  groaning  for  the  last  three 
years. 

Turning  from  Europe  to  this  country — I  refer  particularly 
*  P.  256. 


OP    FRANCE.  341 

to  Scotland — the  consequences  of  the  Revolution  were  most 
important.     The  Church  of  Scotland  was  established  anew, 
and  a  thousand  blessings,  temporal  and  spiritual,  followed  in 
her  train.     We  shall  better  appreciate  these  if  we  think,  for 
a  moment,  of  the  moral  and  religious  slate  of  the  country  as 
the  persecution  left,  and  the  Revolution  found  it.     Though, 
during  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  there  was  much  more  of  the 
operation  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  than  many  imagine — 
though  there  was  only  one  parish  (Sallon)  into  which  the 
English  Liturgy  was  introduced,  and  the  courts,  with  the 
exception  of  the  General  Assembly,  discharged  their  usual 
functions,  and  the  forms  of  Presbyterian  worship  were  sub- 
stantially observed — yet  there  was  a  vast  change  for  the 
worse  in  the  character  of  the  great  body  of  the  people. 
However   the  party  of  the  martyrs  and   their   immediate 
friends  may  have  been  quickened  and  sanctified  by  the  fires 
of  the  furnace,  a  relentless  persecution  of  twenty-eight  years' 
duration  could  not  fail  to  be  most  injurious  in  a  multitude  of 
ways.     There  were  many  broken  vows.     Not  a  few  in  all 
ranks,  particularly  in  the  higher,  had  failed  in  the  day  of 
trial.     In  spite  of  solemn  purposes  and  professions,  they  had 
abandoned  their  plighted  faith.     This  must  have  been  very 
prejudicial  to  their  own  moral  feeling,  and  that  of  the  country. 
Much,  too,  of  the  instruction  which  was  communicated  by 
the  Presbyterian  ministers  was  irregular  and  interrupted,  un- 
der perpetual  fear  and  restraint;  while  no  small  share  of 
what  was  supplied  by  the  ignorant  and  scandalous  intruded 
curates  was  grossly  erroneous — at  best  rank  Arminianisra, 
if  not  Pelagianism,  tending  to  Popery.     The  result  was,  that 
multitudes  received  no  proper  instruction  at  all,  and  that 
others  were  tempted  to  make  a  hasty  profession,  on  an  im- 
perfectly prepared  foundation.     It  is  owing  to  these  causes 
that,  while  Bishop  Burnet  bears  witness  to  the  amazing  re- 
ligious knowledge  even  of  the  "poor  commonalty,"  their 
familiarity  with  the  Scriptures,  their  ability  to  argue  on  dis- 
puted  questions   of    principle,    and    their   extemporaneous 
prayers,  other  writers  relate  how  much  ignorance  prevailed 
not  merely  in  the  Highlands  and  Islands — which  would  not 
be   very  wonderful — but  in  parishes  of  the  western  Low- 
lands, where  the  persecution  had  been  general  and  fierce. 
Thus,  Hogg  of  Carnock,  who  was  minister  of  Dalserf,  in 
Lanarkshire,  immediately  after  the  Revolution,  in  the  "  Me- 
moirs of  his  Life  and  Times,"  states,  in  regard  to  that  parish, 
that  though  the  people  made  a  large  profession,  many  of 


342  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

them  were  grossly  ignorant,  and  otherwise  seriously  defec- 
tive. It  is  said,  "  Some  few  he  found  intelligent ;  yet  many, 
of  whom  he  had  better  thoughts,  were  very  ignorant,  having 
patched  and  kept  up  a  sort  of  profession,  without  ever 
making  it  their  business  to  learn.  This  obliged  him  to  lay 
aside  his  former  designs,  and  wholly  to  apply  himself  pub- 
licly and  privately  to  teach  them  the  plain  ground  of  reveal- 
ed truth,  as  it  might  please  the  Lord  to  direct  and  furnish 
him."  He  states,  that  while  abroad  in  Holland  he  had  been 
acquainted  with  not  a  few  of  the  common  people,  who  not 
only  knew  the  principles  of  religion,  but  who  were  tolerably 
well  versed  in  the  controversial  parts  of  theology,  and  that 
he  had  expected  as  much  of  his  charge  at  Dalserf ;  but  that, 
though  many  of  them  made  a  great  profession,  he  found 
them  exceedingly  ignorant ;  and  that  he  records  this  without 
meaning  to  disparage  those  who  feared  the  Lord,  and  who 
were  docile  and  tractable.  There  can  be  litde  doubt  that 
many  other  parishes  were  in  the  same  predicament  as  Dal- 
serf. The  result  shows,  that  persecution,  instead,  as  many 
imagine,  of  being  uniformly  a  good  to  the  Church  of  Christ, 
is  often  most  injurious,  and  that  in  ways  which  at  first  would 
not  be  thought  of.  The  absence  of  regular  instruction,  and 
the  temptations  to  a  party  profession,  would  just  bring  about 
the  state  of  things  over  which  the  excellent  Mr.  Hogg 
mourns;  though  after  all,  perhaps,  his  standard  of  attainment 
may  have  been  a  high  one.  The  profligate  example,  too,  of 
the  Court  party  must  have  been  very  adverse.  Their  man- 
ners were  formed  upon  the  French  Popish  model,  in  which 
open  debauchery,  obscene  stage  plays,  and  gross  Sabbath 
desecration,  bore  a  prominent  part.  Indeed,  it  seems  to 
have  been  their  labour  to  run  directly  counter,  in  every  pos- 
sible way,  to  the  stern  morality  of  the  Commonwealth. 
They  were  anxious  not  only  to  shun  every  trace  of  connec- 
tion with  the  spirit  and  manners  of  Cromwell,  but  to  pro- 
claim their  deadly  hostility  to  them,  though  religion  and 
morality,  yea  decency,  should  be  sacrificed  in  making  the 
proclamation.  There  is  little  doubt,  too,  that  long-sighted 
priests  encouraged  such  courses  as  the  best  mode  of  break- 
ing the  power  of  evangelical  religion  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  of  preparing  the  way  for  the  re-establishment  of 
Popery,  which  they  seem  always  to  have  kept  in  view.  No 
religion  is  more  suited  to  the  taste  of  a  profligate  than  the 
Popish ;  and  the  progress  of  the  elTorts  of  James  aflbrd 
melancholy  proof,  how  speedily  a  nation,  by  a  course  of  sin, 


OF    FRANCE. 


343 


may  be  ripened  for  the  welcome  of  Popery,  with  its  promise 
of  easy  absolutions.  Taking  these  different  causes  into  ac- 
count, we  need  not  wonder  to  be  informed  by  Fletcher  of 
Salton,  a  few  years  after  the  Revolution,  that  besides  many 
wretchedly  provided  for,  there  were  two  hundred  thousand 
persons — a  fourth  or  fifth  part  of  the  entire  population  of 
Scotland — begging  from  door  to  door ;  that  a  large  propor- 
tion of  these  were  vagabonds,  who  lived  without  any  regard 
to  the  laws  either  of  God  or  of  man — in  the  greatest  crimes, 
oppressing  the  people — rioting  in  years  of  plenty — "  men 
and  women  perpetually  drunk,  cursing,  blaspheming,  and 
fighting  together."  Such  were  their  beggary  and  wretched- 
ness, that  two  Acts  of  Parliament  were  passed,  and  four 
proclamations  issued,  to  build  houses  of  correction,  and  estab- 
lish a  system  of  poor  rates  like  that  of  England.  A  few 
years  ago  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  fifty-five  thousand 
persons  in  Scotland  dependent  on  parochial  relief,  and  ten 
thousand  regular  mendicants.  Putting  these  together  we 
have  about  a  fortieth  part  of  the  entire  population  in  the 
character  of  paupers.  How  different  the  state  of  things  in 
the  days  of  Fletcher,  when  a  fourth  part  were  at  once  beg- 
gars and  criminals !  And  what  could  Be  the  grand  cause  of 
this,  if  not  the  persecution  of  the  two  unhappy  Stuarts  ?  It 
would  be  well  for  men  to  remember  for  what  they  are 
responsible  in  the  generation  which  follows,  as  well  as  in 
that  to  which  they  directly  belong. 

Such  was  the  miserable  moral  condition  of  Scodand  at  the 
Revolution;  and  great  were  her  other  difiicuUies,  political 
and  ecclesiastical.  Some  have  spoken  to  the  disparagement 
of  Scotland,  as  compared  with  England,  in  the  management 
of  the  Revolution.  She  has  been  represented  as  intolerant, 
and  disposed  unnecessardy  to  resort  to  arms,  and  so  as  indi- 
cating an  inferior  civilization;  but  supposing  the  charges 
well  founded — which  we  do  not  concede — it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  the  circumstances  of  the  two  countries  were  widely 
different,  and  fully  explain  the  difference  of  feeling  and  con- 
duct. Though  there  had  been  much  oppression  of  the  Pres- 
byterians or  Puritans  of  England  in  the  reigns  of  Charles  and 
James,  yet  it  was  not  to  be  compared,  in  extent  and  severity, 
with  the  bloody  persecution  of  Scodand;  hence  there  had 
not  been  nearly  the  same  amount  of  provocation.  Indeed, 
Baxter  and  other  Presbyterians  had  been  labouring  after  a 
peaceful  comprehension  of  the  Puritans  in  the  southern 
Establishment.     Then  the  English  Episcopal  Church  was 


344  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

not,  like  her  Scottish  sister,  imbued  with  Popery;  on  the 
contrary,  many  of  her  sons  had  written  nobly  against  the 
Church  of  Rome ;  and  the  people,  as  a  whole,  had  deprived 
James  of  his  crown  for  his  attempts  to  establish  Popery. 
There  were  no  parties  to  come  into  collision  in  the  south.  It 
was  otherwise  in  Scodand.  Not  only  was  there  all  the  pro- 
vocation which  the  memory  of  thirty  years  of  bitter  suffering 
could  supply,  but  the  Episcopal  party  in  Scodand  still  re- 
tained their  Popish  leanings.  They  not  only  did  not  use 
their  exertions  against  Popery,  but  their  Bishops,  with  two 
exceptions,  sent  the  most  adulatory  address  to  James,  after 
his  design  to  establish  Popery  was  quite  notorious,  merely 
because  an  adverse  wind  detained  the  Prince  of  Orange  in 
Holland,  and  gave  them  the  hope  that  James  might  not  be 
disturbed.  That  James  had  a  much  greater  number  of  friends, 
proportionally,  in  Scotland,  than  in  England, — that  the  Po- 
pish party  regarded  Scodand  as  their  stronghold,  pardy  from 
the  remains  of  the  feudal  system  in  the  north,  and  the  almost 
inextinguishable  loyalty  of  the  people  to  their  royal  family, 
and  chiefly  from  the  Popery  of  some  great  families,  and  the 
semi-Popery  of  the  Episcopal  Church, — is  evident  from  the 
fact,  that  the  Popish  Pretender,  through  the  next  sixty  years, 
in  his  successive  attempts  upon  Britain,  almost  always  look- 
ed to  Scodand  as  his  great  hope  and  confidence.  It  is  plain, 
then,  that  it  was  a  much  more  difficult  matter  to  carry  through 
the  Revolution  peacefully  and  satisfactorily  in  Scodand  than 
in  England.  The  first  duty  was  to  protect  the  Convention 
or  Parliament  in  declaring  that  James  had  forfeited  his  title 
to  the  throne;  and  this  was  done,  not  by  the  regular  troops, 
but  by  nearly  two  thousand  Presbyterian  volunteers,  wdio 
were  raised  in  a  few  days,  and  constituted  the  Cameronian 
regiments.  Eight  hundred  were  raised  in  one  day,  by  the 
Earl  of  Angus,  without  beat  of  drum.  The  city  of  Glasgow, 
which  was  always  distinguished  for  its  Protestantism,  on  this 
occasion  sent  five  hundred  men  to  Edinburgh.  At  an  earlier 
day,  in  1568,  the  same  city  sent  out  six  hundred  young  men 
to  the  batde  of  Langside, — a  batde  which  decided  that  the 
Protestant  principles  of  Regent  Murray,  and  not  the  Popish 
government  of  his  sister.  Queen  Mary,  should  prevail;  and 
at  a  later  day  (1715,)  sent  forth  five  hundred  men  for  sixty 
days,  and  offered  to  the  Government  of  the  day  permanenUy 
to  support  them  in  behalf  of  the  Protestant  line  of  Bruns- 
wick, against  the  Popish  Pretender.  The  conditions  upon 
which  the  Presbyterians   proffered  their  services,  show  at 


OF    FRANCE.  345 

once  their  principles  and  the  religious  character  of  the  strug- 
gle: "That  all  the  officers  of  the  regiment  should  be  such 
as,  in  conscience  and  prudence,  might,  with  cordial  confi- 
dence, be  submitted  to  and  followed — such  as  had  not  served 
the  enemy  in  destroying,  nor  had  engaged,  by  oaths  and 
tests,  to  destroy  the  cause  now  to  be  fought  for  and  defended; 
but  that  they  should  be  well  affected,  of  approved  fidelity, 
and  of  a  sober  conversation ; — that  the  cause  they  were  called 
to  appear  for  was  the  defence  of  the  king's  majesty,  in  the 
defence  of  the  nation,  the  recovery  and  preservation  of  the 
Protestant  religion,  in  opposition  to  Popery,  Prelacy,  and 
arbitrary  power,  in  all  its  branches  and  steps,  until  the  gov- 
ernment in  Church  and  State  be  brought  to  the  lustre  and  in- 
tegrity established  in  the  best  and  purest  times."  Colonel 
Blackadder,  a  gentleman  of  eminent  piety,  whose  diary  and 
letters  have  been  published  (from  which  the  above  extract  is 
taken,)  was  an  officer  of  the  regiment  raised  under  Angus. 
It  afterwards  became  the  26th  regiment  of  foot,  was  distin- 
guished in  the  Protestant  wars  of  the  Continent,  under  Marl- 
borough, and  for  a  long  time  was  marked  for  the  religious 
character  of  its  origin. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  it  was  the  Church  of  Scotland  which 
bore  a  leading  part  in  carrying  through  the  Revolution  of 
1688  in  Scotland;  and  but  for  her  influence,  the  Revolution, 
in  all  probability,  could  not  have  been  accomplished.  But 
though  arms  were  taken  up,  let  it  not  be  supposed  that  any 
intolerance  or  persecution  was  practised.  It  was  for  defence, 
not  aggression,  that  the  Presbyterian  volunteers  enrolled 
themselves,  and  that  many  others  took  arms.  A  few  weeks 
after  the  landing  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and  before  any 
ecclesiastical  arrangements  were  made,  there  was  some  mob- 
bing of  Popish  priests  and  places  of  worship,  and  the  armed 
Presbyterians  called  upon  the  Episcopal  curates  quietly  to 
leave  the  churches  which  they  had  so  long  usurped,  or  sub- 
mit to  forcible  ejectment;  but  even  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  there  was  no  bloodshed,  nothing 
that  could  be  called  persecution,  in  the  sense  to  which  Scot- 
land had  been  so  long  accustomed  to  it.  "  Now,"  says  he, 
in  his  "History  of  Scotland,"  "since  these  armed  noncon- 
formists had  been,  to  use  their  own  language,  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  proscribed,  forfeited,  miserably  oppressed, 
given  up  as  sheep  to  the  slaughter,  intercommuned,  and  in- 
terdicted of  harbour  or  supply,  comfort  or  communion,  hunted 
and  slain  in  the  fields,  in  the  cities  imprisoned,  tortured,  ex- 


346 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


ecuted  to  the  death,  or  banished  and  sold  as  slaves;"  "and 
as  many  of  them  avowed  the  same  wild  principles  which 
were  acted  upon  by  the  murderers  of  Archbishop  Sharpe, — 
it  might  have  been  expected  that  a  bloody  retaliation  would 
take  place  as  soon  as  they  had  the  power  in  their  own  hands. 
Yet  it  must  be  owned,  that  these  stern  Cameronians  showed 
no  degree  of  positive  cruelty.  They  expelled  the  obnoxious 
curates  with  marks  of  riotous  triumph,  tore  their  gowns,  and 
sometimes  compelled  them  to  march  in  a  mock  procession 
to  the  boundary  of  their  parish.  They  plundered  the  private 
chapels  of  Catholics,  and  destroyed  whatever  they  found  be- 
longing to  their  religion;  but  they  evinced  no  desire  of  per- 
sonal vengeance.  Nor  have  I  found  that  the  clergy  who 
were  expelled  in  this  memorable  month  of  December,  1688, 
although  most  of  them  were  treated  with  rudeness  and  insult, 
were  in  any  case  killed  or  wounded  in  cold  blood."*  What 
a  contrast  is  the  treatment  thus  candidly  confessed,  of  the 
Presbyterians  towards  the  Episcopalians,  to  the  treatment  of 
the  Episcopalians  towards  the  Presbyterians;  and  yet  the 
Presbyterians  constituted  the  vast  majority  of  the  country! 
Even  in  the  cases  of  insult  referred  to,  the  deed  was  not,  as 
with  the  Episcopal  Church,  the  legalized  deed  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  or  of  the  State,  but  an  ebullition  of  the  pas- 
sion of  the  populace.  What  can  account  for  this  milder 
treatment,  save  the  more  widely  diffused  influence  of  Chris- 
tian principle  and  views  of  toleration,  far  more  enlightened 
than  the  Presbyterians  of  this  period  generally  receive  credit 
for  entertaining? 

But  we  now  come  to  the  formal  settlement  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  as  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland.  There 
was  no  difficulty  in  this,  so  far  as  the  rights  of  Presbyterians 
to  the  Church  property,  and  their  own  numbers  in  the  nation, 
were  concerned.  Twenty-eight  years  of  cruel  usurpation 
and  persecution  could  not  annul  such  titles;  they  rather 
strengthened  them.  'Jlie  Prince  of  Orange,  though  he  came 
from  a  Presbyterian  country,  would  have  wished  for  uni- 
formity of  religious  worship  throughout  Britain,  and  have 
approved  of  a  modified  Episcopacy  for  Scotland.  He  was 
soon,  however,  persuaded  that  this  would  never  be  submitted 
to;  and  so  the  ancient  Presbyterian  Church,  with  some 
change  in  the  mode  of  appointing  ministers,  was  recognized 
and  established.  The  great  difficulty  was,  how  to  arrange 
respecting  the  Episcopal  incumbents.  The  best  plan,  per- 
*  Vol.  ii.,  p.  95. 


OF    FRANCE.  347 

haps,  would  have  been,  to  have  allowed  them  the  freest  tole- 
ration,— to  have  pensioned  and  allowed  them  to  die  off.  In 
this  way  they  would  soon  have  disappeared,  as  their  party 
shrivelled  in  its  dimensions;  but  in  an  evil  hour,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  a  false  charity  and  expediency,  it  was  agreed  that  they 
should  be  received,  on  easy  terms  of  conformity,  into  the 
new  Presbyterian  Establishment.  Not  being  restrained  by 
much  religious  principle — on  the  contrary,  being  worldly- 
minded  men — they  almost  universally  availed  themselves  of 
the  facilities  which  had  been  injudiciously  granted,  and  soon 
formed  a  party  in  the  Church,  which  at  the  time,  and  ever 
since,  has  proved  a  severe  hindrance  to  the  successful  spirit- 
ual working  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  In  this  respect, 
there  is  a  vast  and  most  beautiful  contrast  between  the  con- 
duct of  the  Presbyterian  and  Episcopal  Churches  in  Scotland. 
The  one  persecuted — the  other  spared,  and  opened  the  door 
of  a  generous  admission  to  its  greatest  enemies.  But  how- 
ever kind  or  politic  these  ready  comprehensions  may  be,  they 
are  most  injurious.  Where  there  is  decided  diversity  of  prin- 
ciple and  feeling,  it  is  far  preferable  that  the  parties  should 
keep  asunder.  The  Church  of  Scotland  suffered,  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Reformation,  from  pensioning  the  existing 
Popish  priesthood,  out  of  resources  which  should  have  been 
devoted  to  the  extension  of  the  Gospel  in  its  purity.  Thus 
her  efibrts  were  crippled  for  many  years,  and  she  suffered 
still  more  seriously  and  permanently  by  comprehending  hol- 
low-hearted Presbyterians  within  her  pale  at  the  Revolution. 
The  Popish  priests  died  out,  and  the  parishes  were  relieved, 
but  the  Episcopal  conformists,  or  "  the  temporary  Presbyte- 
rians," as  Hogg  styles  them,  were  perpetuated  from  age  to 
age.  Besides  cooling  down  the  spirit  of  the  Church,  and 
weakening  her  in  various  ways,  they  hindered  her  in  the  ap- 
pointment of  such  faithful  fast-days  as  she  could  have  wished. 
How  could  she  confess  and  mourn  over  a  departure  from 
former  attainments,  and  resolve  upon  a  revival  of  better  prin- 
ciples and  practice,  when  the  very  persecutors  of  the  Church, 
the  very  causes  of  many  of  her  former  defections  and  w^oes, 
were  present  as  ministers  and  elders  in  her  councils,  and  ex- 
erted a  considerable  influence  in  her  proceedings?  They 
could  not  sincerely  concur  in  such  views.  Hence  the  Church 
was  restrained  in  the  course  of  duty;  and  it  may  be  safely 
said,  that  she  has  always  been  much  more  injured  by  the 
leniency  than  the  severity  of  her  discipline — by  false  charity 
than  by  stern  adherence  to  principle.     At  the  same  time,  it 


348 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  circumstances  of  the  Church 
at  the  Revolution  were  trying  and  difficult.  There  was  a 
great  want  of  ministers.  Not  above  sixty  of  the  three  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six  who  had  been  ejected  at  the  Restoration 
survived  to  the  Revolution.  After  such  protracted  persecu- 
tion there  was  great  anxiety  for  peace,  and  a  desire  to  shun 
every  thing  that  could  provoke  or  continue  strife.  The  ad- 
mission of  a  number  of  Episcopal  ministers,  it  was  thought, 
would  tend  to  cement  harmony.  The  moral  condition  of 
the  people,  too,  as  we  have  seen,  was  fearful,  and  called 
loudly  for  an  immediate  and  extensive  application  of  Chris- 
tian means;  but  unless  the  Episcopal  ministers  were  adopt- 
ed, that  application  could  not  be  made  for  many  years.  But 
with  all  this,  the  proceeding  was  wrong  in  principle.  It 
failed  to  work  out  the  good  which  was  expected,  and  it  led 
the  way  to  a  thousand  evils. 

And  now  the  Church  of  Scotland,  freed  from  persecution, 
and  blessed  with  all  the  advantages  of  a  legal  establishment, 
starts  in  her  new  career  of  usefulness.  Impeded,  as  in  some 
measure  we  have  seen  she  was,  still  that  career  is  vigorous 
and  noble.  But  before  describing,  in  a  litde  detail,  the  means 
which  she  employed,  and  the  happy,  moral,  and  religious 
results  with  which  these,  under  God,  were  crowned,  it  will 
not  be  amiss  to  advert  to  the  exteiiml  circumstances  of  Bri- 
tain, as  a  Protestant  power,  at  the  period  of  which  we  write. 
This  will  serve  at  once  to  magnify  the  proceedings  and  suc- 
cess of  the  Church,  and  to  explain  the  subordinate  stimulants 
to  her  zeal. 

Tranquillity  reigns  in  Great  Britain.  The  Prince  of 
Orange,  under  the  title  of  William  III.,  and  his  Princess  as 
Queen  Mary,  are  now  seated  on  the  throne.  The  Church 
of  Scotland,  raised  from  her  oppressions,  and  embracing  a 
large  portion  of  conforming  Episcopal  ministers,  is  the  re- 
cognized Church  of  the  land.  This  was  a  great  step.  It 
was  the  triumph  of  the  principles  for  which  faithful  men  had 
long  suffered  on  the  mountains  and  the  moors  of  Scodand, 
and  it  was  their  triumph,  too,  on  the  very  spot  where  they 
had  endured  most.  'I'he  Revolution  was  equivalent  to  a 
public  declaration,  that  arbitrary  power  has  its  limits, — that 
there  are  cases  when  it  is  right  for  a  people  to  set  aside  their 
sovereign, — that  Popery  is  the  greatest  curse  of  nations, — 
that  the  claims  of  conscience  and  private  judgment  in  religion 
are  sacred, — that  tlie  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  supreme  Head 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland, — and  that  Presbyterian  Church 


OF    FRANCE.  349 

government  is  most  important  and  well  worth  contending  for. 
It  is  pleasing  to  dwell  on  the  Revolution  as  the  triumph  of 
these  principles, — to  think  that  the  good  seed  sown  in  the 
blood  of  the  Covenanters  was  not  lost,  but  speedily  grew  up 
and  bore  fruit.  It  is  gratifying,  too,  to  see  the  principles  of 
Charles  and  of  James,  once  so  powerful  and  prevailing  in 
this  country,  first  exposed  and  then  trodden  down,  till  they 
became  associated  only  with  the  reigns  of  Popish  Pretenders, 
and  were  at  length  extinguished  as  irrational  and  cruel. 

But  though  steps  of  vast  magnitude  were  gained,  the  con- 
test was  not  over.  The  Popish  party,  from  a  variety  of 
sources,  domestic  and  foreign,  had  still  a  considerable  share 
of  power,  and  laboured  for  years  to  embarrass  the  working 
of  the  Revolution  Settlement,  and  bring  back  the  nation  to 
Popery.  The  special  Providence  of  God  was  still  necessary, 
and  was  not  wanting,  for  the  protection  of  the  Protestant 
cause.  Indeed,  it  was  not  to  l3e  expected  that  so  great  a 
Revolution  should  take  place,  even  though  successful  and 
complete,  without  some  effort  being  made  to  recover  the 
ground  which  had  been  lost.  Satan  could  not  fail  to  be 
angry  and  provoked.  The  machinations  of  many  years  were 
defeated — power  long  enjoyed  was  transferred  to  other  hands. 
Accordingly,  there  were  frequent  plots  to  cut  off  William — 
strong  efforts  to  break  up  the  Protestant  succession — and  a 
Popish  Pretender,  under  the  shield  and  guidance  of  France, 
ever  ready  to  make  a  descent  upon  the  most  vulnerable  part 
of  the  British  Isles.  It  was  necessary  to  keep  up  a  system 
of  continued  watchfulness.  The  hazards  were  the  greater, 
that,  unlike  the  Popish  reigns  which,  with  the  exception  of 
James's,  were  comparatively  long,  those  of  the  Protestant 
sovereigns  were  remarkably  short.  William  and  Mary, 
Anne  and  George  I.,  did  not  stretch  over  forty  years,  while 
the  nation  might  be  said  to  have  had  nothing  but  Popish 
queens  for  the  previous  sixty  years.  There  were  not  less 
than  seven  Popish  rebellions,  or  serious  preparations  for 
rebellions,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years.  And  had  it  not 
been  for  the  Providence  of  God  determining  the  royal  suc- 
cession to  a  Protestant  family — and  that  by  a  single  vole  in 
the  Parliament  of  William — and  removing  Anne  by  death 
before  the  schemes  of  the  Papists  were  ripe,  and  singularly 
infatuating  the  counsels  of  the  Pretender  at  a  later  day,  no 
one  can  estimate  how  serious  might  have  been  the  conse- 
quences. The  most  crafty  and  persevering  efforts  were 
employed,  doubtless,  under  priestly  influence,  against  both 


350  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

the  State  and  the  Church,  particularly  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  But  happily  they  were  defeated  at  home ;  while, 
on  the  Continent,  the  allied  troops,  under  Marlborough,  were 
eminently  successful.  In  ten  years'  war  he  scarcely  ever 
lost  a  battle,  or  failed  in  carrying  a  siege.  His  success, 
prayed  for  on  fast-days,  and  acknowledged  on  days  of  public 
thanksgiving,  had  the  effect  of  greatly  weakening  the  power 
of  France,  and,  in  the  same  degree,  the  power  of  Popery 
and  the  British  Pretender,  and  also  in  releasing  the  general 
liberties  of  Europe  from  a  thraldom  under  which  Roman 
Catholic  as  well  as  Protestant  States  had  long  groaned.  The 
immense  struggles  which  were  made  by  the  nation  in  the 
wars  of  Marlborough,  the  treasure  which  was  spent  and  the 
lives  which  were  lost,  were  so  many  sacrifices  in  behalf  of 
Protestantism,  both  at  home  and  abroad;  and  the  laws  which 
were  made,  in  the  mean  time,  against  blasphemous  and  vicious 
publications,  against  false  doctrine  and  profane  swearing, 
and  for  the  reformation  of  manners  generally,  all  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  religious  spirit  of  the  age,  and  to  the  blessing  of 
God  upon  the  British  councils.  It  is  well  to  remember  that 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  in  the  period  of  successful  progress 
which  we  are  about  to  describe,  was  not  living  in  unbroken 
quiet — that,  on  the  contrary,  the  country  was  involved  in 
protracted  war  on  the  Continent,  and  was  constrained  to  main- 
tain an  attitude  of  the  utmost  watchfulness  over  the  insidious 
movements  of  a  Popish  enemy  at  home.  Nations,  under 
the  sway  of  false  religions,  may  enjoyHengthened  tranquillity, 
they  may  repose  for  centuries  in  the  lap  of  inactivity  ;  but  in 
this  fallen  world,  as  soon  as  a  people  begin  to  act  upon 
Christian  principles,  they  must  lay  their  account  with  war 
or  disturbance  of  some  kind.  A  Christian  nation,  like  a 
Christian  man,  is  essentially  militant.  While,  in  some  res- 
pects, this  is  injurious  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  other  res- 
pects it  is  useful — acting,  as  it  does,  as  a  continual  spur  to 
diligence. 

As  persecution  had  reduced  the  number  of  ministers,  and 
laid  waste  churches,  and  left  large  districts  of  country,  par- 
ticularly in  the  Highlands  and  Islands,  in  darkness  and 
superstition;  so  the  first  and  chief  object  of  the  Revolution 
Presbyterian  Church  was,  by  ministers  and  licentiates,  to 
send  forth  a  preached  Gospel  to  the  most  destitute  quarters, 
and  to  take  steps  for  dividing  parishes  and  building  churches. 
This  good  work,  which  carries  every  other  in  its  train,  had 
been  going  vigorously  forward  when  interrupted  by  the  Res- 


OF    FRANCE.  351 

toration  of  Charles  II.;  and  now  it  is  revived.  Letters,  too, 
are  written  to  the  exiled  ministers  to  come  home,  and  spheres 
of  labour  are  immediately  appointed  them,  and  commis- 
sioners are  named  for  visiting  certain  districts  of  the  Church, 
north  and  south  of  the  Tay,  preaching  the  Gospel,  examin- 
ing the  people,  and  taking  steps  towards  the  planting  of 
churches.  This  was  done  in  little  more  than  twelve  months 
after  the  Revolution.  Prosecuting  this  good  work,  in  1694 
not  less  than  sixteen  Lowland  ministers,  at  the  earnest  re- 
quest of  noblemen,  burghs,  and  people,  are  sent  to  supply 
parishes,  north  of  the  Tay,  for  a  quarter  of  a  year.  When 
their  time  is  completed,  other  brethren  fill  their  places,  and 
thus  the  supply  is  kept  up.  In  the  same  year,  the  Scottish 
ministers  who  had  been  labouring  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 
are  loosed  from  their  charges,  and  brought  home.  The 
General  Assembly  also  discourages  the  translation  of  minis- 
ters from  one  parish  to  another,  particularly  from  the  north 
or  more  destitute  districts,  to  the  south,  which  was  better 
provided.  Next  year,  a  committee  for  sending  ministers  to 
the  north,  composed  of  "  the  gravest  men,"  are  required 
always  to  sit  in  Edinburgh,  and  never  to  desist  from  their 
efforts,  till  they  succeed  in  sending  twenty-two  of  the  best 
ministers  to  labour  north  of  the  Tay  for  three  months,  to  be 
relieved  by  other  twenty-two  for  the  next  three  months,  and 
so  on  progressively.  This  surely  indicated  true  church  ex- 
tension zeal.  Some  ministers  and  probationers  are  appoint- 
ed to  go  as  far  north  as  Caithness-shire.  But  in  tlie  anxiety 
for  men,  the  (Church  does  not  overlook  the  claims  of  profes- 
sional literature.  The  same  Assembly  decrees  that  none  are 
to  be  ordained  who  do  not  give  good  proof  of  knowing  Latin, 
and  Greek,  and  Hebrew ;  while  Chaldee  and  Syriac  are 
recommended.  In  1697,  we  meet  with  the  same  spirit  of 
church  extension.  It  would  seem  that  some  of  the  ministers 
sent  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  north,  returned  before  their 
full  term  was  completed.  To  remedy  this,  the  Assembly 
calls  upon  Presbyteries  to  see  that  ministers  exacUy  fulfil 
their  appointments.  On  an  application  from  the  commander 
of  the  forces  in  Scotland,  the  Assembly  appoints  ministers 
to  take  a  pastoral  care  of  the  soldiers,  and  provide  them  with 
seats  in  their  churches,  and  also  take  steps  for  sending  min- 
isters to  regiments  abroad,  as  well  as  at  home.  The  labours 
of  the  Church  in  supplying  the  district  north  of  the  Tay  with 
ministers,  seems  to  have  been  attended  with  so  much  suc- 
cess, that  it  was  not  necessary  to  send  the  same  number  as 


352  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

before.  In  1697,  eighteen  ministers  are  sent,  instead  of 
twenty-two;  but  next  year,  twelve  ministers  are  permanent- 
ly transported  to  the  north,  and  twenty  probationers  or 
preachers  along  with  them.  Both  parties  are  obliged  to  ac- 
cept of  calls,  whether  from  the  people  or  the  presbyteries 
where  they  sojourn.  The  travelling  expenses  of  the  preach- 
ers are  borne  to  the  extent  of  one  hundred  merks  ;  and  when 
they  go  to  Orkney,  they  receive  two  hundred.  The  ap- 
pointment lasts  for  a  year.  In  addition  to  these  appointments, 
eighteen  ministers  itinerate  as  formerly,  and  fifteen  are  sent 
for  four  months.  In  the  mean  time,  so  impressed  is  the 
Church  with  the  importance  of  ministers  being  kept  steady 
to  one  sphere  of  labour,  that  the  Assembly  refuses  to  remove 
ministers  in  the  Lowlands,  from  one  charge  to  another, 
though  there  are  many  applications  of  this  kind.  In  1699, 
we  read  of  other  twenty  preachers  being  sent  north ;  and  no 
one  north  of  the  Tay,  whether  minister  or  probationer,  is 
allowed  to  accept  of  a  Lowland  parish.  This  to  us  may 
seem  a  harsh  proceeding,  but  it  shows  the  deep  zeal  and 
anxiety  of  the  Church  to  supply  the  destitute  Highlands  with 
the  permanent  ministrations  of  the  Gospel.  As  the  vacan- 
cies in  the  north  are  beginning  to  be  filled  up,  only  eleven 
ministers  are  this  year  sent  to  idnerate — a  plain  proof  that 
the  labours  of  the  Church  had  been  successful.  In  1700,  a 
commission  of  ministers  and  elders  was  appointed  to  visit 
Shetland,  to  promote  the  cause  of  the  Church  and  of  Chris- 
tianity among  the  people.  An  account  of  the  visit  was  pub- 
lished by  one  of  the  Commissioners  (Mr.  Brand,)  which 
shows  how  hazardous  was  the  enterprise ;  the  party  being 
repeatedly  in  danger  of  shipwreck:  but  the  writer  bears  wit- 
ness to  the  good  which  resulted  from  such  appointments.  It 
would  have  been  well  had  they  been  continued.  In  the 
course  of  the  same  year,  nine  ministers  and  eighteen  proba- 
tioners are  sent  on  similar  errands  to  those  which  had  en- 
gaged so  many  before.  The  ministers  are  to  reside  four 
months  in  the  north.  Four  years  after  we  read  of  efforts 
being  nsed  to  obtain  pious  persons  to  go  to  St.  Kilda,  and 
instruct  the  people  from  house  to  house.  This  is  a  naked  rock 
in  the  Adantic,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  the  main- 
land, inhabited  by  about  one  hundred  poor  people.  Such, 
however,  was  the  zeal  of  the  Church,  that  even  they  are  not 
overlooked.  In  1706,  tiie  catechist  of  St.  Kilda  receives 
four  hundred  merks,  and  the  proprietor  is  written  to,  to  en- 
courage the  mission.     This  was  not  a  peculiar  case.     The 


OF    FRANCE.  353 

commissioners  of  the  Church  wrote  to  the  heritors  of  desti- 
tute districts  generally,  stirring  them  up  to  contribute.  They 
were  often  successful,  and  had  the  pleasing  duty  afterwards 
of  conveying  to  them  the  public  thanks  of  the  Church  for 
their  services.  In  1708,  we  read  of  various  new  erections 
in  Shedand — no  doubt  the  fruit  of  the  commissions  which 
were  repeatedly  sent  to  that  inaccessible  and  inhospitable 
country.  Soon  after,  the  Presbyteries  of  the  Church  are 
called  upon  to  collect  money  for  building  and  repairing 
manses  in  Shetland.  In  the  course  of  the  same  year,  it  is 
ordered  that  every  minister  of  the  Church  contribute  to  a 
fund,  called  the  centesima  fund,  to  send  a  mission  to  the 
north  against  Popery.  Four  hundred  merks  were  shortly 
raised  in  this  way,  two  hundred  of  which  Avere  applied  to 
the  support  of  a  probationer  in  Glenlivat.  Lord  Strathaven 
applies  for  a  probationer  for  the  north,  and  his  request  is 
complied  with.  This  appears  to  have  been  as  chaplain  to  a 
regiment.  The  parishioners  of  a  southern  parish  (Morham) 
pray  the  Assembly  to  allow  Mr.  Kirk,  a  probationer,  to  be 
settled  as  their  minister  ;  but  such  is  the  Church's  desire 
that  the  north  be  supplied,  that  he  is  required  first  to  go  and 
itinerate  in  Ross  and  Sutherland,  on  condition  that,  if  not 
called  by  the  people  of  any  parish  in  these  counties  in  six 
months,  he  may  return  to  Morham. 

And  while  such  exertions  were  used  m  sending  and  main- 
taining ministers  and  preachers,  who  spoke  English,  to  des- 
titute districts  of  Scodand,  the  Church  did  not  fail  to  make 
special  efforts  to  provide  instructers  in  the  Gaelic  language. 
In  1694,  the  Assembly  enjoins  that  all  the  laws  relating  to 
bursars,  which  had  been  long  in  operation,  and  some  of 
which  affected  Gaelic  students,  should  continue,  and  that  no 
minister  having  the  Gaelic  language  should  be  settled  in  a 
Lowland  parish.  Various  efforts  are  made  to  raise  up 
Gaelic  preachers.  Ministers  and  probationers,  who  do  not 
possess  a  facility  in  speaking  the  language,  are  to  use  means 
to  acquire  it.  In  1701,  Synods  are  strongly  recommended 
to  educate  bursars  having  the  Gaelic  language,  and  to  main- 
tain them  as  students  of  divinity,  in  addition  to  the  bursars 
who  were  supported  by  Presbyteries.  It  is  proposed  that 
these  Synod  Gaelic  bursars  shall  be  eight  in  number,  shall 
receive  £10  a-year,  and  be  maintained  for  four  years.  Four 
years  after,  it  would  seem  that  the  Lowlands  were  so  well 
supplied  with  ministers,  that  it  is  arranged  one-half  of  the  bur- 

23 


354  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

saries  of  Lowland  Presbyteries  sliall  henceforward  be  devo- 
ted to  students  of  divinity  speaking  Gaelic.  In  1708,  the 
Assembly  ordains  that  no  Gaelic  preacher  shall  accept  of 
a  situation  in  the  south,  unless  he  has  ilinerated  for  a  year  in 
the  Highlands,  and  had  no  call  from  the  people.  Should  he 
afterwards  receive  a  call,  he  is  required  to  return.  Probation- 
ers seem  in  some  cases  to  have  been  averse  to  labour  in  the 
Highlands,  and,  in  excuse,  to  have  alleged,  that  they  had 
lost  their  knowledge  of  the  language.  Where  this  is  plead- 
ed, Presbyteries  are  to  examine  into  the  case,  and  see  that 
they  regain  it.  If  any  having  Gaelic  are  inadvertently  set- 
tled in  the  Lowlands,  the  settlement  is  to  be  broken  up,  and 
they  are  to  be  translated  to  the  north.  The  better  to  en- 
courage the  Gaelic  bursars  the  money  is  to  be  punctually 
paid  them.  At  the  same  time,  while  the  Church  is  so 
anxious  for  young  men,  she  is  not  indifferent  to  suitable 
qualifications.  In  1714,  acts  are  passed  to  discourage  un- 
w^orlhy  bursars,  and  to  see  that  strict  attention  is  paid,  in 
the  appointments,  to  piety,  and  literature,  and  probable  use- 
fulness. It  may  be  noticed,  that  a  few  years  before  a  Gae- 
lic minister  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  Gaelic  po- 
pulation in  Edinburgh,  an  important  step,  which  led,  I  be- 
lieve, to  the  Gaelic  church  in  that  city.  So  great  was  the 
zeal  of  the  Assembly  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  High- 
land population,  that  she  followed  them  even  when  they 
left  their  own  native  districts. 

Adverting  to  the  subject  of  education,  the  diligence  of  the 
Church  in  this  cause  was  scarcely  inferior  to  her  zeal  in  the 
department  of  church  extension.  Doubtless  it  was  through 
her  influence  that  an  act  passed  the  Scottish  Parliament  in 
1690,  devoting  the  vacant  stipends  of  the  Synod  of  Argyle 
to  educational  purposes,  to  the  training  of  young  men  at 
school  and  college,  who  might  afterwards  be  schoolmasters. 
This  resource  proving  inadequate,  a  few  years  after  King 
William  made  over  the  rents  of  the  bishoprick  of  the  county 
to  the  object.  At  the  same  time,  he  appointed  ^6150  of  the 
bishoprick  of  Dumblane  to  be  applied  to  the  building  of 
schools  and  schoolmasters'  houses,  and  the  better  support  of 
the  schoolmasters  in  the  Highland  parts  of  Perth,  Stirling, 
and  Dumbarton.  At  the  end  of  the  century,  the  General 
Assembly  strongly  recommends  to  Presbyteries  to  use  their 
endeavours  to  have  parochial  schools  in  the  Lowlands, 
wherever  they  have  not  yet  been  planted.  Next  year,  rules 
are  passed  indicating  great  care  for  the  character  and  quali- 


OF    FRANCE.  355 

fications  of  sclioolmasters.  Those  who  have  been  at  college 
are  to  be  preferred  to  those  who  have  not.  A  few  years 
after  (1704),  a  collection  is  appointed  for  establishing  paro- 
chial schools  in  all  the  destitute  districts  of  the  Highlands; 
and  in  the  existing  schools,  the  children  of  poor  parents  who 
give  promise  of  being  afterwards  useful,  are  not  only  to  be 
taught  the  usual  branches  of  knowledge,  but  the  Latin  lan- 
guage in  addition.  On  the  application  of  some  private  gen- 
tlemen in  Edinburgh,  who  seem  to  have  associated  together 
for  prayer  and  the  reformation  of  public  manners,  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  took  steps  to  ascertain  the  educational  wants  of 
the  Highlands  and  Islands,  and  to  excite  interest  and  spread 
information  on  the  subject.  This  resulted,  in  1709,  in  the 
establishment  of  the  "  Society  in  Scodand  for  Propagating 
Christian  Knowledge,"  a  society  which  still  exists  in  a 
flourishing  condition.  Some  efforts  had  been  made  by  the 
friends  of  religion  to  plant  schools  a  few  years  before,  but 
unsuccessfully.  Now,  however,  that  the  cause  is  taken  up 
by  the  Church,  above  ^61000  are  speedily  collected — no 
small  sum  in  Scotland  at  that  day:  a  royal  proclamation  is 
issued  by  Queen  Anne  in  favour  of  the  scheme,  and  the  asso- 
ciation is  incorporated  by  charier,  embracing  many  of  the 
most  influential  names  in  Scodand  in  its  membership — lead- 
ing nobles,  country  gendemen,  judges,  merchants,  &;c.  The 
constitution  and  rules  of  the  society  were  exceedingly  en- 
lightened and  wise:  religious  instruction  was  made  supreme. 
At  the  same  time  provision  was  made  for  a  superior  class  of 
teachers,  and  a  superior  style  of  intellectual  instruction.  It  was 
part  of  the  plan  to  have  catechists  and  missionaries,  as  well  as 
schoolmasters,  in  remote  and  destitute  districts,  so  that  the 
school  frequenfly  became  a  mission  station.  In  this  way, 
church  extension  and  school  extension  were  blended  together. 
It  may  be  interesting  to  record,  that  the  first  of  the  Society's 
schools  was  planted  in  1711,  in  the  desolate  Island  of  St. 
Kilda;  and  a  salary  w^as  appointed  of  three  hundred  merks, 
or  £lG  13s.  4d.  By  this  time  the  capital  amounted  to 
£3700.  Eleven  itinerating  schools  were  set  up  in  the  most 
Popish  districts  of  the  Highlands  at  the  same  time,  and  all 
the  materials  provided  for  a  full  scriptural  education.  In  1715, 
the  schools  had  risen  to  twenty-five,  and  the  capital  had  in- 
creased to  ^66177.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remind  the 
reader,  that  at  the  same  period  the  claims  of  education  were 
carefully  attended  to  in  the  Lowlands.  We  read  in  the  ec- 
clesiastical records  of  the  parish  of  Govan,  that  in  1714,  a 


356  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

collection  was  made  for  the  schoolmaster  from  door  to  door, 
and  next  year  it  appears  that  not  less  than  three  schools  were 
maintained  by  the  same  parish. 

I  might  refer  to  various  other  proofs  of  the  Christian  spirit 
and  power  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  during  the  period 
which  we  are  surveying — such  as  her  zeal  against  Popery — 
her  kindness  to  distressed  individuals,  both  at  home  and 
abroad — her  sympathy  with  suffering  Protestant  Churches, 
her  attention  to  the  wants  of  the  poor — her  encouragement 
of  literature  and  learning;  but  I  would  be  merely  repeating 
what  we  found  to  be  characteristic  of  her  history  at  earlier 
periods.  Indeed,  it  is  one  of  the  beautiful  indications  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  as  a  spiritual  Church,  that  she  is  no 
sooner  freed  from  external  oppression,  but  all  the  symptoms 
of  true  religion,  the  love  of  truth,  a  quickened  conscience, 
an  improved  intellect,  and  renovated  social  affections,  become 
apparent  in  a  thousand  forms.  I  may  merely  mention,  be- 
fore proceeding  to  the  practical  resuhs  of  the  operation  of  the 
Church,  that  her  love  for  the  higher  species  of  knowledge 
embraced  at  universities,  is  proclaimed  in  the  interesting 
facts  which,  by  a  careful  investigation,  I  have  made  out  from 
the  recent  Parliamentary  Report  on  the  Scottish  Universi- 
ties, viz., — that  in  the  twenty-eight  years  of  Episcopal  per- 
secution, there  was  an  addition  of  but  four  chairs  in  the 
University  of  Edinburgh;  whereas,  in  the  twenty-eight 
years  of  the  Presbyterian  period  following  the  Revolution, 
there  was  an  addition  of  not  less  than  twelve  new  professor- 
ships in  the  same  University.  It  appears  also,  that  during 
the  same  periods,  there  were  but  ten  bursaries  founded  in 
the  University  of  Glasgow  the  first  era — seven  of  them  by 
the  same  person ;  while  in  the  corresponding  Presbyterian 
period,  there  were  not  less  than  twenty-four,  and  these 
chiefly  by  separate  individuals.  Surely  these  facts  indicate 
a  superior  taste  for  knowledge,  and  anxious  endeavours  to 
diffuse  it.  With  regard,  again,  to  the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  foreign  parts,  it  was  in  1690  and  1700  that  the 
Church  of  Scotland  sent  forth  six  ordained  ministers,  and 
three  probationers,  to  the  Caledonian  Colony  at  Darien,  with 
the  view  not  only  of  instructing  the  Scotch  colonists,  but  of 
carrying  the  Word  of  Life  to  the  heathen.  And  though  the 
colony  in  a  short  time  proved  a  complete  failure,  yet  the 
spirit  of  the  Church  was  not  on  that  account  less  admirable 
or  worthy  of  praise,  'i'he  letters  which  were  written,  the 
prayers  which  were  offered,  the  fast-day  which  was  appoint- 


OF    FRANCE.  357 

ed  in  connection  with  the  disasters  of  the  colony,  all  pro- 
claim the  piety  and  zeal  with  which  the  Church  entered 
into  the  undertaking.  And  it  need  scarcely  be  added,  that 
the  disposition  to  communicate  to  others  is,  in  genera],  a 
just  index  of  the  estimation  in  which  what  is  given  is  held 
by  ourselves.  To  send  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen,  is  a  good 
proof  that  it  is  understood  and  valued  at  home. 

And  now  let  us  turn  to  the  practical  fruit  of  that  operation 
of  Christian  means  which  we  have  been  describing.  How 
did  the  Presbyterian  Church  affect  the  country  in  its  reli- 
gious, and  moral,  and  social  interests?  It  wrought  in  the 
most  beneficial  manner.  Many  testimonies  to  this  effect 
can  be  appealed  to.  I  do  not  refer  to  the  outward  improve- 
ments which  appeared  in  the  building  of  bridges,  and  the  en- 
largement of  harbours,  and  the  constructing  of  roads.  The 
country  was  indebted  for  not  a  few  of  these  to  the  Church. 
There  was,  in  these  days,  no  public  fund  save  her  collec- 
tions, and  so  she  might  be  said  to  be,  in  this  respect,  the 
great  civilizer  of  the  nation.  But  I  refer  to  higher  and  better 
things?  The  Church  greatly  improved  the  character,  and 
through  it  the  condition,  of  the  people.  Previous  to  1700 
there  were  but  three  parishes  under  a  legal  assessment  for 
the  support  of  the  poor ;  and  in  forty  years  after,  there  were 
but  eight  parishes  in  that  predicament.  When  it  is  con- 
sidered how  great  was  the  poverty  and  wretchedness  des- 
cribed by  Fletcher  of  Salton  in  1698,  and  how  glad  the 
Government  would  have  been  to  find  a  refuge  for  the  suf- 
fering in  a  poor's-rate,  the  small  number  of  parishes  is  almost 
incredible,  and  sliows  how  tlie  mind  of  the  people  general- 
ly must  have  been  raised,  in  the  meantime,  by  the  power  of 
Christian  principle,  so  as  to  render  poor-laws  unnecessary. 
How  marvellous,  too,  that  this  should  happen  in  so  poor  a 
country  as  Scotland.  But  the  fact  rather  leads  one  to  infer 
how  high  must  have  been  the  moral  standard  of  the  people, 
than  actually  to  describe  it.  We  can  turn,  however,  to  eye- 
witnesses of  their  character  for  an  account  of  its  leading 
features.  Matthew  Henry,  speaking  of  his  friend  Dr.  Ben- 
yon,  who  sojourned  in' Glasgow  in  1703,  says,  "He  ob- 
served, to  his  great  satisfaction,  that  all  the  while  he  was  in 
Glasgow,  though  he  lay  in  a  public  town,  he  never  saw  any 
drunk,  nor  heard  any  swear — nay,  he  observed,  that  in  all 
the  inns  of  the  road  to  that  part  of  Scotland  where  he  lay — 
though  some  of  them  mean — they  had  family  worship  per- 
formed morning  and  evening;  from  which,  and  other  re- 


358  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

marks  made  in  that  journey,  he  inferred,  that  practical  reli- 
gion doth  not  depend  on  worldly  wealth,  for  where  he  had 
seen  the  marks  of  poverty,  there  he  had  seen  withal  the 
marks  of  piety."  Probably  Glasgow  was,  at  the  period  re- 
ferred to,  a  town  of  twelve  thousand  souls,  and  yet  its  moral 
and  religious  character  was  visible  to  the  eye  of  an  intelligent 
and  pious  stranger.  What,  however,  is  most  worthy  of  no- 
tice, is  that  the  town  was  not  singular;  and  that  the  inns 
along  the  way,  the  very  houses  where  the  calls  of  religious 
duty  are,  from  various  causes,  least  attended  to,  all  resounded 
with  the  voice  of  family  devotion.  We  may  safely  interpret 
this  as  the  proof  of  a  very  widely  diffused  religious  spirit. 
Passing  from  Dr.  Benyon,  we  have  a  well  known  and  charac- 
teristic testimony  by  De  Foe,  who  visited  Scotland  about 
the  period  of  the  Union — not  long  after  the  friend  of  Henry. 
He  says,  "  The  people  are  restrained  in  the  ordinary  prac- 
tice of  common  immorality,  such  as  swearing,  drunkenness, 
slander,  licentiousness,  and  the  like.  As  to  theft,  murder, 
and  other  capital  crimes,  they  come  under  the  cognizance  of 
the  civil  magistrate,  as  in  other  countries ;  but  in  those 
things  which  the  Church  has  power  to  punish,  the  people 
being  constantly  and  impartially  prosecuted  (that  is,  sub- 
jected to  Church  discipline  where  they  offend,)  they  are 
thereby  the  more  restrained,  kept  sober  and  under  govern- 
ment; and  you  may  pass  through  twenty  towns  in  Scotland, 
without  seeing  any  broil,  or  hearing  one  oath  sworn  in  the 
streets;  whereas,  if  a  blind  man  were  to  come  into  these 
parts  into  England,  he  shall  know  the  first  town  he  sets  his 
foot  in  within  the  English  border,  by  hearing  the  name  of 
God  blasphemed  and  profanely  used,  even  by  the  very  little 
children  in  the  streets." 

Such  testimonies  may  be  supposed  to  refer  chiefly,  if  not 
exclusively,  to  the  Lowlands ;  but  the  Highlands  were  not 
strangers  to  the  same  blessed  change.  There  were,  indeed, 
influences  in  these  districts,  peculiarly  adverse  to  the  pro- 
gress of  divine  knowledge.  The  inaccessibility  of  the  peo- 
ple, owing  to  the  natural  barriers  of  the  country — the 
feudal  form  of  government  under  the  despotic  chieftains — 
the  native  superstitions — the  unconquerable  attachment  to 
the  very  language  which  cut  them  of!"  from  intercourse  with 
the  more  intelligent; — these,  and  many  other  causes,  pre- 
sented great  obstacles  to  the  progress  of  the  Reformation 
among  the  Highlands  and  Islands  of  Scotland.  Hence,  in  not 
a  few  districts,  the  Gospel  was  scarcely  known  down  to  the 


OF    FRANCE, 


359 


period  of  the  Revolution,  but  at  that  era  great  and  successful 
exertions  were  made  for  proclaiming  it.  In  the  western 
Highlands — to  select  an  example — there  appears  to  have 
been  a  very  decided  revival  of  religion  under  the  devoted 
labours  of  Donald  Campbell  of  Kilmichael  Glassary.  He 
was  settled  a  few  years  after  the  Revolution,  and  found  his 
people  in  a  deeply  ignorant  and  heathenish  condition — wild 
like  the  mountains  among  which  they  lived.  Through  the 
Divine  blessing  on  his  prayers  and  labours,  not  a  few  were 
turned  from  darkness  to  light,  and  became  civilized  as  well 
as  converted  men.  The  works  on  practical  divinity  which 
he  published,  particularly  his  "  Sacramental  Meditations  on 
the  Sufferings  and  Death  of  Christ,"  while  they  show  the 
style  of  his  instruction — a  style  far  ahead  of  the  age  in  which 
he  lived — also  show  his  piety  and  high  professional  attain- 
ments. They  are  works  eminently  fitted  to  be  useful,  and 
themselves  bear  witness  to  his  success.  "  The  Medita- 
tions," at  one  time,  had  a  large  sale  in  England  and  in 
Ireland,  as  well  as  in  Scotland,  and  the  memory  of  their 
author  is  fragrant  and  revered  as  that  of  an  apostle.  In  the 
northern  Highlands,  again,  the  moral  renovation  of  the  peo- 
ple was  still  deeper  and  more  extensive.  Long  previous  to 
the  Revolution,  in  the  Presbyterian  periods  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  Ross,  Sutherland,  and  Caithness,  and  part  of 
Inverness,  had  given  evidence  of  decided  attachment  to  evan- 
gelical religion.  So  early  as  1624,  the  Protestant  chieftains, 
with  three  thousand  of  their  people,  had  crossed  to  Germany 
to  fight  the  battles  of  the  Reformed  faith,  under  the  great 
Gustavus  Adolphus  of  Sweden,  who  repeatedly  attributes 
his  success  to  his  Scottish  allies.  Dr.  Doddridge,  in  his 
"  Life  of  Colonel  Gardiner,"  states,  that  sixty  gentlemen  of 
the  name  and  family  of  Munro  of  Fowlis,  one  of  the  leading 
families  of  the  north,  were  officers  in  the  Germanic  army. 
In  the  days  of  the  Covenant,  the  same  northern  counties 
came  out  boldly  and  unanimously  in  the  Presbyterian  and 
Evangelical  cause.  But  after  the  Revolution,  the  religious 
character  of  the  people  was  confirmed  and  deepened.  Many 
of  the  good  ministers  fled  to  the  northern  Highlands  in  the 
days  of  persecution,  where  they  found  an  asylum,  and  the 
highest  families  continued  faithful  to  the  Covenant.  These 
things  were  most  favourable ;  but  in  addition,  the  Earls  of 
Sutherland,  who  had  more  power  in  the  three  northern  coun- 
ties than  any  other  family,  and  who  were  eminently  pious 
themselves,  and  gave  every  encouragement  to  laborious  min- 


360 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


isters  in  their  parishes,  after  the  Lay  Patronage  Act  of  1711 
was  passed,  continued  for  forty  years  to  give  the  people  the 
choice  of  their  ministers.     This  tended  to  keep  np  the  spirit 
of  evangelical  religion ;  for  the  unhappy  change  which  after- 
wards took  place,  first  appeared,  not  among  the  people,  but 
among  the  pastors.     Not  a  few  of  the  ministers  in  the  north 
were  eminent.     Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Frazer  of 
Alness,  who  laboured  in  that  parish  for  forty  years,  and  pub- 
lished a  treatise  on  Sanctification  which  has  been  much  es- 
teemed and  highly  useful  in  the  Christian  Church  ever  since. 
The  name  of  M'Kay,  minister  of  Duirnish,  a  relative  of  Lord 
Reay's,  may  also  be  recorded.     He   was  sometimes  three 
months  absent  from  his  own  house,  in  the  laborious  catechis- 
ing of  his  extensive  parish.     The  effects  of  the  labours  of 
these,  and  of  many  men  of  kindred  spirit,  are  visible  to  the 
present  day.     The  Committee  of  the  Highland  Missionary 
Society,  speaking  of  this  district  of  Scotland  a  few  years 
ago,  quote,  in  their  eighth  report,  with  approbation,  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  of  a  pious  historian: — "The  apostolic  unc- 
tion which  the  Holy  Spirit  then   imparted  to  that  county, 
has  not  only  been  continued  among  the  ministers  in  regard 
to  sentiments,  consistorial  procedure,  and  general  character; 
but  the  traveller,  as  he  approaches  the  nothern  shore  of  the 
east  of  Scotland,  perceives,  when  he  mingles  with  the  com- 
mon people,  that  he  begins  to  breathe  in  an  atmosphere  of 
evangelical  and  practical  purity,  which  his  moral  sense  is  not 
accustomed  in  many  places  to  inhale."     Another  writer  quo- 
ted by  the  same  Society,  says — "The   crimes  of  rapine, 
murder,  and  plunder,  not  unusual  during  the  feuds  and  con- 
flicts of  the  clans,  were  put  an  end  to  alDOUt  the  year  1640. 
Domestic  and  social  virtues  are  now  cultivated  and  revered 
by  all  ranks  of  people — family  worship  is  common — cursing 
and  swearing  are  rarely  heard;  and  no  native  of  these  dis- 
tricts would  perform  an  ordinary  work,  such  as  carrying  in 
water,  on  the  Sabbath-day."     The  same  spirit  follows  them 
when  they  leave  their  homes.     The  regiments  raised  in  these 
quarters  have  been  distinguished  for  moral  and  religious  feel- 
ing; court-martials  are  rare,  while  prayer-meetings  are  fre- 
quent.   A  few  years  ago,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thom,  of  the  Scottish 
Church  at  the  Cape,  bore  testimony  to  the  high  character 
of  the  93d,  or  Sutherland  Highlanders.    In  eighteen  months, 
they  saved,  officers  and  men,  the  large  sum  of  seven  thou- 
sand rix  dollars,  or  £J400   currency,  from  their  pay,  and 
devoted  it  to  the  maintenance  and  propagation  of  the  Gospel, 


OF    FRANCE. 


361 


"Their  example,"  adds  Dr.  Thorn,  *' had  a  general  good 
effect  on  both  the  colonists  and  the  heathen.  How  they 
may  act  as  to  religion  in  other  parts,  is  known  to  God ;  but 
if  ever  I  thought  that  apostolic  days  were  in  modern  times 
on  earth,  I  certainly  believed  them  to  have  been  among  us  in 
Africa." 

Leaving  the  Highlands,  and  surveying  the  Church  gene- 
rally at  the  period  of  which  I  am  writing,  there  are  one  or 
two  interesting  testimonies  to  the  excellence  of  her  charac- 
ter, which  I  must  not  omit.  Professor  Wodrow,  the  father 
of  the  historian,  and  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Glasgow,  says,  in  the  interesting  life  of  him  publish- 
ed a  few  years  ago  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Campbell  of  Edin- 
burgh— "  I  am  of  opinion  the  Church  of  Scotland  never 
enjoyed  such  a  pleniiful  measure  of  the  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  as  since  the  Revolution,  though  the  Lord  has  been 
pleased  to  bestow  it  in  a  different  manner.  In  former  times, 
the  gift  was  more,  much  more,  particular — conferred  and 
restricted  to  some  particular  persons  here  and  there;  but 
since  the  Revolution,  I  hope,  and  am  persuaded,  it  is  far 
more  diffused,  enlarged,  and  general."  This  is  the  testi- 
mony of  a  pious  and  intelligent  professor,  through  whose 
hands  seven  hundred  young  men  in  Scotland  passed  on  the 
way  to  the  ministry ;  and  when  it  is  remembered  how  re- 
markable and  wide-spread  were  the  religious  revivals  of 
Scotland  in  earlier  days,  the  state  of  the  Church  posterior  to 
the  Revolution  must  have  been  favourable  indeed.  Speaking 
of  the  General  Assembly  in  its  spirit  and  proceedings,  at 
the  same  period,  Sir  Henry  Moncreiff,  in  the  Appendix  to 
the  "Life  of  Dr.  Erskine,"  says — "An  unbiassed  reader, 
who  dispassionately  examines  the  proceedings  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assemblies  from  1690  to  1713,  cannot  but  perceive  the 
sincerity  with  which  the  great  body  of  the  clergy  then  united 
to  promote  the  religious  interests  of  the  people,  and  the 
general  tranquillity  of  the  country,  as  well  as  the  uniform 
attachment  shown  by  them  all  to  the  principles  which  placed 
William  and  Mary  on  the  throne,  and  the  usefulness  and 
respectability  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  There  were  oc- 
casional differences  of  opinion  among  them,  such  as  occur 
in  all  numerous  assemblies.  But  though  we  must  suppose 
the  influence  of  Government  to  have  been  at  all  times  con- 
siderable, there  do  not  appear,  in  the  General  Assemblies  of 
this  period,  any  settled  combinations,  or  indeed  any  offen- 
sive symptoms,  either  of  party  spirit  or  of  political  intrigue." 


362  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

This  is  a  strong  testimony,  and  it  is  amply  confirmed  by  the 
preface  to  Pierce's  "  Vindication  of  the  Dissenters," — a 
respectable  English  Dissenter,  who,  surveying  the  Church 
of  Scotland  from  a  little  distance,  thus,  in  his  dedication, 
addresses  the  ministers : — 

*'  To  the  Most  Reverend,  Pious,  and  Learned  Pastors  and 
Ministers  of  that  part  of  Christ's  Church  which  is  in 
Scotland. 

"  Reverend  Brethren — Many  weighty  reasons  move 
me  to  dedicate  this  my  defence,  such  as  it  is,  to  you,  and  to 
make  choice  of  you  as  the  arbitrators  to  whom  I  would  es- 
pecially appeal.  For  what  better  judges  can  I  desire  in  this 
controversy,  than  those  who  are  famed  both  for  Christian 
discipline  and  true  piety  ?  which  noble  virtues,  (1  say  it  with- 
out flattery)  are  nowhere  more  conspicuous  than  in  your 
Assemblies.  The  ardent  zeal  for  God's  worship  and  pure 
religion,  for  which  you  have  been  renowned  of  old,  has 
been  so  far  from  being  extinguished,  that  it  has  been  inflamed 
and  brightened  by  those  horrible  and  very  long  persecutions, 
out  of  which,  above  twenty  years  ago,  it  pleased  our  most 
merciful  God  and  Father  to  deliver  you.  Being  mindful  of 
this  great  benefit,  you  diligently  discharge  the  important 
trust  committed  to  you.  The  good  Lord  grant  you  may 
always  go  on  to  do  so,  with  the  like,  and  even  greater  care, 
diligence,  and  success.  What  pious  person  can  forbear  res- 
pecting and  reverencing  Christ's  vineyard,  happily  planted 
among  you ;  where  it  is  not,  as  in  many  other  parts,  misera- 
bly trampled  under  foot,  but  wonderfully  defended  by  his 
mighty  and  gracious  hand,  and  abounds  in  all  the  fruits  of 
righteousness ;  wherein  impiety,  which  elsewhere  rages 
without  control,  is  stricUy  curbed  and  restrained?  Nor  are 
there  wanting  among  our  Churchmen  persons  of  candour 
and  reputation,  who  highly  honour  you  upon  this  account." 

There  are  additional  facts  which  might  be  appealed  to, 
indicative  of  the  sound  character  and  justly  earned  power  of 
the  Church.  For  instance,  a  Form  of  Process  was  drawn 
up  and  agreed  to,  in  1707,  for  maintaining  and  following  out 
the  discipline  of  the  Church  upon  her  oflice-bearers  and 
members,  where  they  transgress  the  laws  of  Christ.  This 
Directory,  introduced  by  wise  and  able  men,  is  now  found 
to  be  cumbrous  in  its  working,  and  to  need  revision;  but  it 
has  stood  for  nearly  one  hundred  and  forty  years.     It  is  still 


OP    FRANCE.  363 

the  guide  of  the  Church  in  such  cases ;  and  at  the  time  it 
was  agreed  to — to  use  the  language  of  Wilhamson's  "  Per- 
sonal Testimony" — it  "  was  a  step  of  reformation  beyond 
what  was  attained  in  our  former  purest  times."  It  is  a  good 
sign  in  any  Church  to  be  strict  in  her  rules  of  discipline. 
The  prevailing  error  and  evil  have  lain  upon  the  other  side — 
the  side  of  relaxation. 

While  the  Form  of  Process  bears  testimony  to  the  Church's 
character,  the  success  of  the  union  with  England  testifies  to 
her  power.  It  is  well  known  that  that  union,  which  has 
been  the  source  of  so  many  commercial  and  other  blessings 
to  Scotland,  was,  in  the  first  instance,  much  opposed  on 
various  grounds — nay,  was  the  source  of  no  small  evil  to 
the  northern  division  of  the  island.  Such  was  the  hostility, 
that  had  it  not  been  for  the  influence  of  leading  ministers  in 
the  Church,  it  could  not  have  been  carried  into  effect.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  best  informed  historians  give  the  Church  ihe 
credit  of  that  most  important  measure.  Her  courage  in  re- 
sisting the  wishes  of  so  many  of  her  own  people,  and  in 
encountering  the  perils  of  an  untried  experiment,  in  which, 
as  the  event  has  proved,  she  might  be  a  sufferer,  shows  how 
warm  was  her  attachment  to  the  Protestant  succession,  and 
how  much  she  was  prepared  to  risk  for  the  Protestant  cause. 
Scottish  nobles  might  receive  bribes  of  money  to  obtain  their 
acquiescence — some  of  them  so  low  as  £10  or  £\2 — but 
the  Church  was  untainted.  It  was  upon  principle  that  she 
not  only  acquiesced,  but  yielded  her  support  to  the  Union; 
and  in  this  she  presents  a  striking  contrast  even  to  the  aristo- 
cracy, who  were  glad  to  receive  among  them  some  £400,000, 
apart  from  which  Scotland  might  long  have  remained  an 
independent  kingdom.  How  different  from  the  noble  mind- 
ed men  who  sacrificed  all,  even  life  itself,  for  their  prin- 
ciples ! 

But  while  the  character  and  operation  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  as  a  whole,  were  so  favourable,  and  while  her 
power  was  justly  so  considerable,  we  are  not  to  imagine  that 
her  course  from  the  Revolution  was  smooth  and  easy.  She 
had  many  difficulties  and  adverse  influences  with  which  to 
contend.  A  Revolution  almost  always  leaves  a  number  of 
keen  and  exasperated  parlies  behind  it.  The  expedition  to 
Darien,  in  which  Scotland  suffered — not  a  little  through  the 
jealousy  of  her  southern  neighbour — was  most  disastrous. 
Though  the  circulating  capital  of  Scotland  did  not  exceed 
£800,000,  not  less  than  one-half  o^  it  was  turned  into  Da- 


364  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

rien  stock;  and,  first,  an  expedition  of  twelve  hundred  per- 
sons, embracing  three  hundred  sons  of  the  best  families;  and 
then  another  of  thirteen  hundred,  went  forth  to  the  shores  of 
America.  All  may  be  said  to  have  perished.  This,  in  various 
ways,  must  have  been  very  injurious.  We  have  remarked 
that  the  opposition  to  the  Union  was  strong,  general,  and 
protracted.  Only  a  solitary  petition,  from  the  town  of  Ayr, 
could  at  first  be  obtained  in  its  favour.  Its  influence  upon 
Scotland's  trade  was  at  first  unfavourable ;  and  not  less  than 
forty  years  elapsed  before  its  full  advantages  began  to  be 
realized.  Besides,  there  were  the  constant  plotting  and  threat- 
ened usurpation  of  the  Popish  Pretender,  aided  by  France. 
In  the  meantime,  while  Queen  Anne  did  so  much  for  church 
extension  and  endowment  in  England,  nothing  was  done  for 
Scotland  by  the  Crown  or  Parliament  for  the  same  object. 
It  was  resolved,  in  1710,  that  fifty  churches  should  be  built 
in  London,  within  the  Bills  of  Mortality;  and  a  sum  of 
£350,000  was  granted  by  Parliament  for  the  purpose,  which 
proved  to  be  a  very  popular  measure.  But  though  the  Church 
of  Scotland  was  acknowledged  by  the  difi'erent  Protestant 
sovereigns,  and  by  Anne  among  the  rest,  to  be  the  best 
friend  of  their  cause;  and  though  Dr.  Calamy,  who  visited 
Scotland  about  this  period,  states  it  was  a  very  common  com- 
plaint that  there  was  a  want  of  places  of  worship,  and 
speaks  of  the  plainly  over-crowded  churches  of  Edinburgh, 
Glasgow,  and  Aberdeen;  yet  the  Church  of  Scotland  was 
abandoned  to  her  own  private  resources,  heavily  as  these 
were  already  tasked. 

Nay,  what  was  worse  than  all,  instead  of  receiving  any 
aid  from  public  funds,  in  1711,  the  Act  restoring  Lay  Patron- 
age, one  of  the  most  obnoxious  and  hateful  measures  which 
could  be  proposed,  was  hastily  and  treacherously  carried 
through  Parliament.  This,  as  now  appears  from  the  Lock- 
hart  Papers,  was  the  doing  of  the  Jacobites,  to  alienate  the 
people  of  Scodand  from  the  Church,  and  to  weaken  her. 
Bolingbroke,  the  infidel,  who  afterwards  fled  to  France  in 
dread  of  an  impeachment  and  the  scaff'old,  had  a  chief  share 
in  the  work — thus  illustrating  what  has  been  often  illustrated 
since  —the  close  connection  between  Popery  and  Infidelity, 
and  the  deadly  hatred  of  both  to  evangelical  religion.  In  its 
object,  origin,  progress,  and  result,  this  was  one  of  the  most 
iniquitous  measures  which  ever  passed  the  British  Legisla- 
ture. It  proceeded  on  falsehood,  and  was  carried  by  treach- 
ery and  fraud.     It  proved  a  severe  blow  to  the  Church  of 


OF    FRANCE. 


365 


Scotland — more  fatal  to  her  true  interests  than  all  the  preced- 
ing persecution.  Evangelical  religion  grew  in  spite  of  the 
one — it  withered  under  the  other.  The  measure  was  so 
hateful,  that  for  twenty  years  no  party  scarcely  dared  to  act 
upon  it;  and  for  great  part  of  a  century  it  was  the  object  of 
regular  annual  complaint  and  protest  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly. Many  efforts  were  made  to  obtain  its  repeal,  and  re- 
peatedly there  was  the  promise  of  success.  The  family  of 
Argyle,  to  which  the  Church  had  been  so  much  indebted  in 
the  former  century,  strange  to  say,  after  the  act  was  passed, 
were  its  great  supporters.  But  for  them,  Wodrow  states  in 
his  unpublished  Jlnalecta,  it  might  have  been  abrogated. 
Thus  does  God,  in  his  providence,  stain  the  glory  of  man, 
and  forbid  his  Church  to  idoHze  any  family,  however  noble. 
Most  destructive  as  the  measure  has  proved  in  its  operation, 
it  was  not  all  that  the  Jacobite  party  contemplated  at  the 
time.  They  had  another  bill  in  prospect  for  the  abolition  of 
the  General  Assembly— a  Presbyterian  Court  which,  as  one 
of  the  bulwarks  of  the  national  liberties,  has  ever  been  a 
thorn  in  the  flesh  to  the  friends  of  despotism,  whether  civil 
or  ecclesiastical.  It  was  intended,  too,  that  the  evangelical 
Dissenters  should  be  put  down.  They  had,  in  1701,  through 
Sir  Thomas  Abney,  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  one  of  their 
number,  lent  an  important  influence,  by  sending  an  address 
from  the  city,  in  encouraging  William,  then  on  the  Conti- 
nent, in  uniting  the  Protestant  powers,  and  so  in  securing 
the  Protestant  succession.  Accordingly,  the  same  semi- 
Popish  Ministry  and  Parliament  which  fixed  the  yoke  of 
lay-patronage  around  the  neck  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
brought  in,  first,  what  was  called  an  "  occasional  bill;"  then 
"  a  schism  bill,"  which  deprived  the  Dissenters  of  control 
over  the  education  of  their  children ;  and  prepared  to  bring 
in  another  bill,  to  rob  them  of  the  right  of  voting  in  all  elec- 
tions! These  shameful  projects  against  the  best  friends  of 
the  Hanoverian  succession,  were,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
cut  short  by  the  sudden  death  of  the  Queen.  But  the  mea- 
sures which  were  carried  show  how  many  hostile  influences 
were  directed  against  the  Church  of  Scotland,  while  they 
must  have  operated  very  injuriously  to  her  interests.  It  was 
in  the  midst  of  them  all  that  she  held  on  her  course  so  nobly 
and  successfully.  Doubtless  it  was  her  growing  progress 
and  power  in  the  country,  which  alarmed  the  adversary,  and 
led  to  those  more  violent  proceedings  to  which  I  have  just 
referred.     Alas!  these  measures  have  been  too  successful. 


366  PROTESTAXT    CHURCH 

The  external  evils  to  the  country  of  a  Pretender's  invasion 
may  soon  have  been  overcome,  fears  may  have  been  dissi- 
pated, rebellion  extinguished,  peace  restored ;  but  the  moral 
and  religious  evils  of  the  act  1711,  though  longer  of  show- 
ing themselves,  though  quiet  and  silent,  have  been  more  per- 
manently disastrous.  They  poisoned  the  Church,  which 
alone  can  give  true  life  to  the  State,  and  all  but  destroyed 
her.  It  is  indeed  no  small  proof  of  her  vital  power,  that  she 
has  survived  such  miserable  maltreatment — that,  like  the 
Christianity  which  she  is  set  up  to  diffuse,  she  lives,  in  spite 
of  all  the  efforts  which  have  been  made,  some  wilful,  some 
unintentional,  to  rob  her  of  life. 

The  union,  too,  between  the  kingdoms,  which  has  proved 
the  source  of  so  many  advantages  to  the  Stale,  and  to  the 
accomplishment  of  which  the  Church  so  generously  lent  her 
aid,  and  which  she  maintained  after  the  gross  violation  of  its 
provision  by  the  Patronage  Act  of  Queen  Anne,  even  the 
union  has  been  in  various  respects  adverse  to  the  Church. 
It  has  withdrawn  the  education  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
aristocracy  from  her  control,  and  placed  it  under  Episcopal 
guidance.  Had  Wodrow's  idea  been  acted  on,  and  resident 
commissioners  to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  national 
Church  of  Scotland  been  appointed  in  London,  and  Scottish 
churches  been  reared  and  ably  supplied  in  the  metropolis, 
for  the  use  of  the  Scottish  nobility,  and  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, and  merchants,  the  evil  might  have  been  in  a  great 
measure  prevented.  But  little  or  nothing  of  this  kind  was 
done,  and  hence  a  large  number  of  influential  families  have 
been  lost  to  the  Church  of  Scodand:  not  a  few  have  become 
keen  opponents.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  between  the 
years  1670  and  1736,  there  were  not  less  than  twenty  of  the 
leading  Scottish  nobility — two  dukes,  two  marquises,  eleven 
earls,  and  five  lords — educated  in  Glasgow  College  alone; 
while  it  is  believed  there  are  not  as  many  educated  now  in 
the  whole  four  Universities  of  Scotland,  in  the  same  space 
of  time.  Various  and  adverse,  then,  have  been  the  influ- 
ences with  which  the  Church  of  Scodand  has  had  to  con- 
tend, from  the  Revolution  of  1688  to  1715,  and  most  credi- 
table the  place  which  she  has  been  enabled  to  maintain,  and 
the  moral  and  religious  good  which  she  has  been  honoured 
to  work  out  for  the  nation  in  spite  of  them  all.  How  dif- 
ferent her  position  and  success  from  that  of  the  poor  and 
sinking  Church  of  France  in  die  same  period  ! 


OF    FRANCE.  367 

CHAPTER  VI. 

FROM  1714  TO  1755. 

The  next  period  in  the  history  of  the  French  Protestant 
Church,  to  which  I  must  direct  the  attention  of  the  reader,  is 
the  period  embraced  by  the  life  and  reign  of  Louis  XV., 
extending  from  1714  to  1774,  being  a  space  of  sixty  years. 
In  the  present  chapter  I  come  down  to  1755,  as  a  pretty 
good  division.  The  first  part  of  it  was  under  a  Regency. 
It  might  have  been  hoped,  that  the  miserable  condition  of  the 
country  at  the  death  of  Louis  XIV.  would  have  mitigated 
the  spirit  of  persecution — and  certainly  there  was  a  little 
relaxation  under  the  Regency  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  who, 
though  personally  a  wretched  profligate,  saw  the  impolicy 
of  violence,  and  repeatedly  expressed  himself  in  favourable 
terms  towards  the  Protestants;  but  any  gleam  of  sunshine 
was  soon  overcast. 

It  is  interesting  to  mark  the  ebbs  and  flows  of  persecution 
in  the  period  now  under  review.  God's  dispensations  to  his 
people  are  at  once  merciful  and  trying.  Under  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  who  was  the  first  Regent,  there  were  nine  years 
of  comparative  quiet  and  freedom.  He  is  followed  in  1723, 
by  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  who  exercised  a  merciless  severity 
for  three  years.  Then  come  eighteen  years  of  peace  under 
Cardinal  Fleury,  which  brings  the  history  down  to  1744, 
when  the  spirit  of  persecution  is  again  evoked  in  its  ancient 
horrors,  and  continued,  with  greater  or  less  violence,  dur- 
ing the  rest  of  the  long  reign  of  Louis  XV.  Not  a  little  in 
these  different  changes  seems  to  have  depended  on  the  per- 
sonal character  of  the  Regent  or  Prime  minister.  It  may 
seem  strange  how  the  happiness  of  so  large  a  body  of  people 
should  be  suspended  on  the  humour  or  temperament  of  a 
single  individual.  But  thus  has  it  always  been  under  the 
providence  of  God.  And  surely  such  mystery  of  dispensa- 
tion teaches  the  necessity  of  an  overruling  Providence,  and 
of  earnest  and  persevering  intercession  with  God  on  behalf 
of  civil  rulers.  It  is  not  always  necessary  that  they  be 
Christian  men,  in  order  to  protect,  or  at  least  not  to  perse- 
cute the  saints  of  God.  They  may,  like  the  Duke  of  Or- 
leans, who  was,  as  we  have  stated,  a  miserable  profligate,  be 
influenced  by  other  considerations  adapted  to  his  character, 


368  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

but  not  less  under  the  providence  of  the  Supreme  Ruler.  It 
is  said  that  he  was  so  indolent  and  abandoned  to  vicious 
pleasures,  that  he  did  not  persecute,  because  it  would  have 
given  him  trouble,  by  demanding  a  measure  of  activity.  It 
is  more  probable  that,  as  a  politician,  he  saw  the  danger  of 
doing  any  thing  to  encourage  the  Jesuits,  who  were  already 
too  powerful.  Hence  it  is  understood  that  he  secretly  fa- 
voured the  Jansenists,  as  a  balance  to  their  growing  influ- 
ence. Whatever  may  have  been  his  motive,  one  of  his  first 
acts  was  to  open  the  gates  of  the  Bastile.  and  send  forth  the 
Protestant  victims  to  their  long-lost  liberty ;  and  another 
was,  his  permission  to  Lord  Stair,  the  English  ambassador, 
not  merely  to  have  a  Protestant  place  of  worship,  but  a 
church  in  which  the  service  might  be  conducted  in  French 
as  well  as  English.  This  was  a  great  boon  to  the  poor  Pro- 
testants of  Paris.  Their  religion  was  thus  publicly  protected 
and  honoured  under  the  British  ambassador,  and  they  went 
in  crowds  to  worship  along  with  him — several  thousands 
attending  at  a  time.  Of  course,  the  leading  causes  of  emi- 
gration having  ceased  to  operate,  emigration  was  no  longer 
resorted  to.  The  Protestants  remained  in  their  own  land. 
If  even  so  abandoned  a  man  as  the  Duke  of  Orleans  could 
thus,  in  the  overruling  providence  of  God,  be  made  to  min- 
ister to  His  cause  without  thinking  of  it,  yea,  while  hating 
it,  how  much  more  surely  may  it  be  expected  that  other 
rulers  of  better  character,  but  equally  hostile,  may  be  guided 
into  the  same  course. 

In  1724,  Louis,  or  rather  his  minister  using  his  name,  is- 
sued a  long  Declaration,  embracing  nearly  twenty  articles, 
and,  if  possible,  breathing  a  spirit  of  more  fiery  persecution 
than  had  hitherto  been  manifested.  He  complains  of  the 
decrees  of  former  years  having  been  but  coldly  and  remissly 
executed,  especially  in  the  provinces  which  had  been  afflict- 
ed with  the  plague;  as  if  the  judgments  of  God  were  not 
enough,  and  it  was  necessary  to  add  to  them  the  violence  of 
man.  The  articles  of  his  edict  are  most  sanguinary,  in 
some  respects  worse  than  any  preceding.  Any  one,  on  any 
pretence  whatever,  publicly  professing  the  Reformed  faith, 
was,  if  a  man,  to  be  sent  to  the  galleys  for  life;  if  a  woman, 
to  be  shorn,  and  confined  as  long  as  the  judges  thought 
proper.  In  both  cases,  there  was  a  complete  confiscation  of 
property.  That  the  reader  may  have  some  idea  what  the 
French  galleys  were  at  this  time — though  I  have  given  a 
view  of  them  at  an  earlier  period — I  subjoin  an  account  from 


OF     FRANCE. 


369 


a  little  work  entitled  "The  French  Convert,"  published  af- 
ter the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  It  must  have 
passed  through  many  editions,  as  that  which  I  possess  is  the 
sixteenth,  li  is  entitled,  "  A  True  Relation  of  the  Happy- 
Conversion  of  a  Noble  French  Lady,  from  the  errors  and 
superstitions  of  Popery  to  the  Reformed  Religion,  by  means 
of  a  Protestant  gardener,  her  servant;  wherein  is  shown  her 
great  and  unparalleled  sufferings  on  the  account  of  her  said 
conversion;  as  also  her  wonderful  deliverance  from  two  as- 
sassins hired  by  a  Popish  priest  to  murder  her;  and  of  her 
miraculous  preservation  in  a  wood  for  two  years  ;  and  how 
she  was  at  last  providentially  found  by  her  husband,  who, 
together  with  her  parents,  and  many  others,  were  brought 
over  to  the  embracing  of  the  true  religion."  The  story 
might  be  pronounced  a  romance,  the  events  are  so  singular, 
had  not  the  truth  of  them  been  solemnly  attested.  The  pic- 
ture which  it  indirectly  presents  of  the  profligacy,  and  treach- 
ery, and  violence  of  Popery,  is  most  appalling.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  account  of  the  galleys  of  which  we  have  heard  so 
much: — 

"  Some  they  condemn  to  the  galleys,  where  they  are 
coupled  commonly  with  the  vilest  miscreants  condemned 
thither  for  the  most  flagitious  crimes,  whose  fearful  oaths 
and  execrations  are  continually  wounding  their  pious  ears. 
There  are  generally  five  of  them  placed  upon  every  form, 
fettered  with  a  heavy  chain,  about  ten  or  twelve  feet  long. 
They  shave  their  heads  from  time  to  time,  to  show  they 
are  slaves,  and  are  not  allowed  to  wear  their  hats  or  peri- 
wigs. They  have  only  beans,  and  nothing  else,  for  their 
food,  with  about  fourteen  ounces  of  coarse  bread  a-day,  and 
no  wine  at  all.  They  are  devoured  by  vermin,  and  forced 
to  lie  upon  one  another  as  hogs  in  a  sty ;  and  every  day 
threatened  and  tormented  by  friars  and  priests,  who,  not 
being  able  to  convince  them  by  reason,  think  to  do  it  by 
severity.  He  declared  also,  that  when  he  was  delivered,  the 
number  of  those  chained  to  the  galleys  for  the  sake  of  reli- 
gion, was  about  three  hundred  and  seventy,  who  glorified 
God  in  their  sufferings,  with  an  unparalleled  courage  and 
constancy." 

To  return  to  the  articles  of  1724.  All  those  among  the 
Protestants  who  dared  to  preach,  were  immediately  to  be 
put  to  death.  The  pubHc  preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  the 
great  instrument,  in  the  hands  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  of  con- 
version and  sanctification;  and  so  it  is  the  instrument  against 

24 


370 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


which,  in  all  persecutions,  Satan  lifts  up  the  most  terrible 
power.  The  children  of  Protestant  parents  were  ordered, 
under  a  heavy  penally,  to  be  baptized  by  the  Popish  priest 
within  twenty-four  hours  after  birth.  This,  by  one  of  the 
fictions  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  so  brings  them  under  the 
Popish  yoke,  that  they  maybe  compelled  like  deserters  from 
an  army,  if  they  attempt  afterwards  to  withdraw  from  her 
allegiance.  All  Protestant  parents  sending  their  children  out 
of  the  country  for  education,  were  liable  to  a  fine  of  six 
thousand  livres.  In  self-defence,  the  Popish  parly  were 
obliged  to  provide  schoolmasters  and  schoolmistresses — not 
from  any  love  for  the  arts  of  reading  and  writing,  but  that 
the  Protestant  children  might  be  regularly  carried  to  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  festivals.  They  were  required  to  attend  the 
schools,  and  repeat  the  catechisms,  till  they  were  fourteen 
years  of  age;  "  and  from  fourteen  to  twenty  attend  the  in- 
structions on  Sundays  and  holidays."  There  could  be  litde 
danger  of  Protestant  leanings  after  such  a  training.  Then 
those  attending  sick  Protestants,  such  as  surgeons  and 
nurses,  were  required,  under  heavy  penalties,  immediately 
to  send  for  the  Popish  priest.  If  the  sick  refused  the  sacra- 
ments at  his  hands,  and  recovered,  they  were  doomed  to 
perpetual  banishment,  and  the  loss  of  one  half  of  their  pro- 
perty; if  they  died,  their  memory  was  publicly  arraigned 
and  dishonoured.  "  No  physicians,  surgeons,  apothecaries, 
or  midwives,  no  booksellers  or  printers,  may,  or  shall,  be 
admitted  to  exercise  their  art  and  profession,  in  any  place 
within  our  realm,  without  producing  a  (Popish)  certificate." 
Various  similar  persecuting  enactments  were  passed  in  re- 
gard to  Protestant  marriages;  but  of  these  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  speak  more  fully  afterwards. 

Such  was  the  dread  persecution  of  Louis  XV. ;  and  what 
was  the  character  of  the  Protestants  at  this  time?  Were 
they  unsound  in  the  faith?  Were  they  disaffected  subjects 
of  the  State?  It  would  be  difficult  to  produce  direct  evi- 
dence, perhaps,  of  the  precise  religious  condition  of  a  Church 
which  was  scattered  and  trodden  down,  whose  ministers 
were  not  allowed  to  publish  any  works,  nor  suffered  to  meet 
for  the  administration  of  discipline.  These  things  were  most 
adverse,  not  only  to  their  Christian  character,  but  to  the 
proof  of  it;  but  if  patient  endurance  under  protracted  trial, 
and  the  most  steadfast  loyalty,  furnish  evidence  of  soundness 
in  the  faith,  then  the  Protestants  of  France  gave  ample  proof 
of  their  Christianity.     Popish  assertions,  that  they  had  be- 


OF    FRANCE.  371 

come  Socinian  in  their  religious  views,  are  entitled  to  little 
weight.  Of  course,  some  were  much  more  spiritual  than 
others;  but  this  is  no  more  than  what  is  to  be  met  with  in 
all  Churches,  and  in  all  conditions  of  Churches.  There  may 
have  been  a  French  translation  of  the  Bible  by  Le  Cene,  one 
of  the  French  refugees,  Socinian  in  its  tendency;  but  we 
have  no  evidence  that  he  was  a  Protestant  minister;  and 
though  he  were,  this  would  be  most  inadequate  ground  on 
which  to  fasten  any  general  charge  of  Socinianism  against 
a  Christian  Church.  Moreover,  it  was  not  circulated  in 
France. 

The  submission  and  loyalty  of  the  Protestants  were  re- 
markable. Indeed,  nothing  can  be  more  striking  than  the 
contrast  between  the  way  the  people  treated  their  sovereign, 
and  the  way  in  which  he  treated  them.  Repeatedly  did  Ro- 
man Catholic  criminals  confined  in  the  same  prisons  with  the 
persecuted  Protestants  seek,  but  seek  in  vain,  to  enlist  them 
in  a  conspiracy,  which,  if  successful,  would  have  released 
both.  One  case  is  mentioned,  where  they  not  only  solemn- 
ly protested  against  a  horrible  conspiracy,  but  gave  informa- 
tion of  it,  and  so  saved  the  lives  of  a  captain  and  his  garri- 
son. On  another  occasion,  in  May,  1705,  they  refused  to 
stir  out  of  their  cells,  when  Roman  Catholics  of  some  con- 
dition had  destroyed  the  governor  of  the  castle,  mastered 
the  guards,  made  their  escape,  and  left  the  doors  open.  At 
a  later  day,  in  1744,  when  they  were  allowed  to  hold  a  Na- 
tional Synod  in  the  deserts  of  Lower  Languedoc — a  privi- 
lege which,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  had  not  been  enjoyed  for 
more  than  half  a  century — what  did  they  resolve  upon? 
Did  they  denounce  their  oppressors,  and  proclaim  rebellion 
against  the  State?  No;  they  commanded  that  a  fast  should 
be  kept  in  all  the  Reformed  Churches  of  the  kingdom,  "  for 
the  preservation  of  his  Majesty's  sacred  person,  the  success 
of  his  arms,  a  cessation  of  war,  and  the  deliverance  of  the 
Church."  Ministers  are  ordered  to  preach  at  least  one  ser- 
mon a-year,  on  the  duty  of  submission  to  civil  authority. 
When  news  arrived,  during  the  sitting  of  the  Synod,  of  the 
illness  of  the  king,  *'  they  all  fell  upon  their  knees,  and 
made  a  fervent  prayer  to  God  for  his  recovery;"  and  when 
he  was  restored,  they  sung  "  Te  Denm,"  and  mingled  in  the 
general  rejoicing.  In  a  petition  to  Marshal  Count  de  Saxe, 
to  implore  his  intercession  with  their  sovereign  in  their  be- 
half, they  declare  themselves  "  firmly  resolved  to  sacrifice 
their  lives  and  fortunes  for  his  Majesty's  service."     Nay, 


372 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


they  proceed  still  further,  and  counsel  their  teachers  to  ab- 
stain from  points  of  controversy  with  the  Romanists,  and  to 
speak  witli  the  utmost  circumspection  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
Protestant  Churches;  to  avoid  working  on  saint's  days,  lest 
they  should  give  offence ;  and,  in  fine,  to  bear  patiendy  all 
the  ill  usage  they  might  be  exposed  to  on  account  of  their 
religion.  What  noble  sentiments  are  these  !  What  an  ad- 
mirable spirit,  and  mode  of  proceeding!*  How  unlike  the 
suggestions  of  natural  feeling!  Surely  this  compliance  with 
the  Scripture  call,  "  to  love  their  enemies,  to  bless  those  who 
cursed  them,  to  pray  for  those  who  despitefully  used  and 
persecuted  them,"  indicated  the  presence  of  no  doubtful 
Christian  discipleship.  An  eminent  Protestant  minister,  in 
1746,  thus  expressed  himself: — 

"  This  I  can  affirm  for  truth,  that  if  his  Majesty  allow 
the  Protestants  the  liberty  of  having  pastors,  to  celebrate 
their  marriages,  baptize  their  children,  and  perform  the  other 
ministerial  offices  of  their  religion,  only  in  the  desert,  they 
would  be  ready  to  do  all  that  men  can  do  to  demonstrate  their 
gratitude  and  their  attachment  to  his  person.  Nay,  I  dare 
say,  that  were  they  to  be  employed  in  repelling  the  enemies 
of  the  State,  they  would  fill  the  world  with  the  fame  of  their 
exploits;  and  Louis  XV.  would  be  no  less  charmed  with 
their  bravery,  than  Henry  the  Great  was  with  that  of  their 
forefathers." 

Reviewing  these  manifestations  of  Christian  feeling  and 
conduct,  I  cannot  but  think  the  labours  of  those  faithful  men 
must  have  been  eminently  blessed,  who  acted  as  their  teach- 
ers. When  all  Protestant  schools  and  colleges  were  over- 
thrown, and  when  it  was  death  to  assemble  the  people  and 
preach  the  Gospel,  and  dispense  ordinances,  in  1731  a  semi- 
nary was  erected  at  Lausanne,  in  Switzerland,  for  the  educa- 
tion of  Protestant  ministers  for  France,  drawing  its  chief 
support  from  Holland  and  England.  Doubtless  it  was  of 
such  men  tliat  a  missionary  in  France  lately  made  the  inter- 
esting statement,  speaking  of  Mirabel,  and  of  a  person  whom 
lie  met  there.  "  He  told  me,"  says  he,  "  that  formerly  in 
the  days  of  persecution,  the  pastors  were  received  and  con- 
cealed by  his  family.  He  showed  me  a  large  tumbler,  on 
which  were  written  these  words — '  I  love  God,'  and  the 
date  of  the  year  1738;  and  which,  he  informed  me,  had  been 
used  by  the  pastors  in  the  days  of  persecution,  when  admin- 
istering the  Lord's  Supper  in  desert  places.  He  also  showed 

*  This  rather  seems  to  have  been  an  unjustifiable  servility.   Am.  Ed. 


OP    FRANCE. 


373 


me  a  white  embroidered  linen  cloth,  more  than  a  century  old, 
which  he  said  had  been  used  to  carry  infants  into  the  same 
desert  places  to  be  baptized  by  the  pastors."  It  would  not 
have  been  wonderful,  if  men,  provoked  and  oppressed  as  the 
Protestants  were,  had  been  driven  to  resistance.  One  or 
two  slight  cases  of  this  kind  there  may  have  been ;  but  the 
Protestants  were  remarkable  throughout  for  patient  endur- 
ance and  the  most  unsullied  loyalty;  and  what  so  likely  to 
form  such  a  character  as  the  diffusion  of  Christian  instruc- 
tion, even  amid  trials  and  difficulties? 

While  the  character  of  the  Protestant  Church  was  thus  so 
praiseworthy,  what  was  the  character  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  her  great  enemy,  during  the  same  period?  Not  to 
speak  of  the  persecution  of  the  Protestants,  which  she  insti- 
gated and  upheld,  and  which  proved  her  a  tyrant,  she,  in 
other  respects,  presented  a  miserable  aspect  to  the  eye  of 
Christendom.  The  Church  of  boasted  unity  appeared  rent 
and  torn  in  her  own  members.  The  Jansenists  and  Jesuits 
carried  on  a  most  furious  warfare,  which  ended  in  the  perse- 
cution, even  to  imprisonment  and  death,  of  the  Jansenists. 
The  work  of  Quesnel  upon  the  Gospels,  who  was  an  emi- 
nent member  of  this  body,  was  condemned  by  the  Pope, 
and  he  himself  driven  into  exile,  where  he  died.  The  con- 
troversy connected  with  his  book  gave  rise  to  the  celebrated 
bull  of  Unigenilus,  issued  by  the  Pope  in  1713 — a  bull 
which  denounces,  as  heretical  and  reprobate,  one  hundred 
and  one  such  precious  and  important  truths  as — "  That  it  is 
useful  and  necessary  for  all  persons  to  know  the  Scriptures 
— that  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  is  for  every  body — that 
the  Lord's  day  ought  to  be  sanctified  by  Christians,  in  read- 
ing pious  books,  and  above  all,  the  Scriptures — that  to  de- 
prive the  unlearned  people  of  the  comfort  of  joining  their 
voices  with  the  voice  of  the  whole  church,  is  a  custom  con- 
trary to  apostolical  practice,  and  to  the  design  of  God;"  and 
many  others.  Indeed,  the  great  leading  truths  of  the  Gospel 
salvation  were  all  pronounced  heretical,  and  their  preachers 
accursed;  while  the  Jesuits,  the  successful  party,  were  ere 
long  found  to  be  so  formidable  to  the  peace  of  the  Church 
and  of  the  nation,  that  they  were  first  deprived  of  their  pow- 
er, and  ultimately  suppressed.  What  a  contrast  is  here  be- 
tween the  Protestant  Church  and  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
how  honourable  to  the  former ! 

For  the  sake  of  those  who  may  not  be  acquainted  with 
the  nature  or  history  of  Jansenism,  it  may  be  proper  to 


374 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


State,  that  Jansen  was  a  bishop  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  who 
flourished  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  and 
that  his  sentiments,  which  were  formed  with  the  greatest 
care  and  deliberation,  after  many  years  of  mature  study,  are 
Calvinistic,  and  so  entirely  at  one  with  the  doctrinal  articles 
of  the  Church  of  England,  and  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and 
also  the  Protestant  Church  of  France — of  course  they  are 
at  perfect  war  with  the  prevailing  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  which  is  essentially  Arminian.  As  might  have  been 
expected,  though  Jansen  himself  acted  a  timid  and  unworthy 
part,  his  opinions  called  forth  keen  opposition  within  the 
borders  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  But,  in  spite  of  this,  they 
spread,  particularly  in  France  and  Flanders,  till  multitudes 
more  or  less  secretly  entertained  them.  They  were  formally 
condemned  by  the  Church  of  Rome  in  1653,  in  1657,  in 
1705,  and  in  1713;  and  the  penalty  for  holding  them  was 
most  severe.  At  the  second  date  to  which  I  refer,  all  clergy 
refusing  to  abjure  them,  were  deprived  of  their  livings,  cast 
into  prison,  or  sent  into  exile,  and  the  abjuration  was  re- 
quired not  merely  of  the  secular  clergy,  but  of  every  monk 
and  friar.  In  short,  it  was  safer  to  be  an  Atheist  than  a 
Jansenist. 

The  existence  of  Jansenism  shows,  that  even  the  Church 
of  Rome  cannot  exclude  the  saving  truth  of  God,  and  it  is 
delightful  to  find  such  truth  even  in  so  corrupted  a  quarter. 
Indeed,  apart  from  the  faith  of  it,  there  can  be  no  salvation 
in  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  sentiment  may  seem  a  harsh 
one,  but,  on  the  principles  of  Scripture,  a  genuine  Roman 
Catholic  cannot  be  saved.  Men  in  the  external  communion 
of  the  Romish  Church,  but  holding  Jansenist  or  evangelical 
doctrine  without  being  sensible  of  it,  may  be  subjects  of  sal- 
vation. It  is  impossible,  however,  to  believe  that  any  cling- 
ing to  systems  which  subvert  and  destroy  the  Gospel  of 
grace  can  be  saved.  "  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than 
that  is  laid,  Christ  Jesus  the  righteous."  In  this  view,  how 
cheering  is  the  Jansenism  of  the  Churcli  of  Rome.  It 
places  men  on  the  right  foundation,  without,  it  may  be,  their 
being  aware  of  it.  It  makes  salvation  possible,  though  they 
may  still  shrink  from  the  name  of  Protestantism  with  horror, 
and  cling  tenaciously  to  the  visible  communion  of  Rome. 
Had  tiie  Jansenists  seen  things  in  the  proper  light,  they 
sliould  have  joined  with  the  persecuted  Protestants  of  France. 
In  essentials  they  held  far  more  in  common  with  them  than 
with  the  Church  of  Rome;  but  they  were  blinded  by  the 


OF  FRANCE. 


375 


dogmas  which  the  Popish  Church  has  circulated  so  indus- 
triously, that  there  is  no  salvation  beyond  her  visible  pale. 
The  case  of  the  Rev.  Martin   Boos,  in  modern  times,  is  a 
remarkable  illustration  of  the  same  point.     But  though  Jan- 
senists  may  not  appreciate  their  true  place,  nor  act  out  their 
own  principles,  let  us  rejoice  that  there  are  such  persons. 
Once  they  were  so  numerous  as  to  alarm  Rome  with  the 
terror  of  wide-spread  change,  and  rouse  the  energies  of  the 
Jesuits,  the  most  active  of  her  orders.    And  blessed  be  God! 
they  are  not  now  extinct  even  in  Italy,  the  head-quarters  of 
papal  superstition  and  error.     It  may  be  noticed,  in  passing, 
as  a  curious  circumstance,  somewhat  provoking  to  the  men 
who  place  supreme  virtue  in  the   integrity  of  "  Episcopal 
apostolic  succession,"  that  the  heretic  Jansen  was  not  only 
a  bishop  himself,  and  ordained  multitudes,  but  that  one  of 
the  persons  whom  he   ordained  was  Bellarmine,  the  most 
illustrious  champion  of  the  Church  of  Rome.     Slrange  that 
Bellarmine  was  ordained  by  one  whose  works  the   Church 
of  Rome  anathematized  as  full  of  every  species  of  evil,  im- 
piety,  blasphemy,    heresy !     In  such  circumstances  could 
Bellarmine's  ordination  be  sound?     If  so,  where  is  the  suc- 
cession of  truth?     If  unsound,  what  becomes  of  the  "apos- 
tolic succession"  of  Episcopal  churches,  which  derive  from 
the  Church  of  Rome? 

But  I  must  return  to  the  history  of  the  Protestant  Church. 
Vast  as  were  the  multitudes  who  emigrated,  and  exhausting 
the  treatment  to  which  those  were  subjected  who  remained, 
the  Protestant  population,  as  a  whole,  was  not  nearly  so 
much  reduced  in  numbers  as  might  have  been  expected. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Less,  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Gottingen,  who 
travelled  in  France,  speaking  of  the  period  between  1715 
and  1743,  states,  that  persecution  had  had  the  effect  of  in- 
creasing the  number  of  Protestants.  "  With  these  persecu- 
tions," says  he,  "the  persecuted  increase;  desires  opposed 
become  stronger;  love  of  honour,  or  liberty,  or  religion, 
transform  into  pleasures  pains  suffered  for  these  beloved  ob- 
jects. Compassion  excited  in  the  spectators  of  these  tra- 
gedies, inclined  them  to  favour  the  cause  of  the  sufferers; 
the  courage  of  the  Protestants  grows ;  the  number  of  their 
preachers  increases."  At  a  later  day  we  find  them  estima- 
ted as  high  as  from  three  to  four  million,  which  is  as  large  a 
number  as  they  were  rated  at  before  persecution  began  in  its 
severity.  This  would  make  them  about  a  sixth  part  of  the 
then  population  of  France.    But  however  they  are  estimated. 


376  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

there  can  be  no  question  they  were  still  very  numerous. 
Towards  1743,  it  is  stated  in  a  pamphlet,  chiefly  of  original 
papers,  that  such  was  the  scarcity  of  ministers,  and  such  the 
anxiety  of  the  people  to  hear  the  Word  of  God,  though  for- 
bidden, that  if  intimation  were  given  very  late  upon  a  Satur- 
day night  of  one  being  to  preach  next  morning  at  seven 
o'clock,  several  thousands  were  assembled  ready  to  hear 
him.  It  would  seem  that  the  decline  of  the  power  of  the 
Jesuits,  who  had  been  the  greatest  persecutors  of  the  Pro- 
testants, and  the  distraction  of  the  public  attention  with 
foreign  war,  had  relaxed  the  severe  measures  enacted  in 
1724.  They  still  stood  upon  the  statute-book,  and  doubt- 
less, in  many  cases,  were  in  full  operation;  but,  generally 
speaking,  they  were  not  executed,  at  least  with  the  same  se- 
verity. In  not  a  few  provinces  the  public  assemblies  were 
connived  at,  and  many  Protestant  marriages  and  baptisms 
were  solemnized.  The  civil  power  seemed  not  averse  to 
toleration.  This  provoked  the  ecclesiastical  Popish  party, 
and  so  a  severe  persecution  was  revived.  The  year  1745 
was  a  year  of  trouble  in  Great  Britain,  from  the  movements 
of  the  Popish  Pretender,  and  it  was  a  year  in  which  the  per- 
secuting enactments  in  France  were  executed  with  sad  rigour, 
as  if  the  Popery  of  different  countries  had  a  common  sym- 
pathy. It  would  weary  the  reader  to  detail  the  cases  of 
persecution  which  are  recorded.  The  vast  multitude,  we 
may  believe,  are  known  only  to  God.  I  shall  merely  notice 
a  few.  Several  bales  and  casks  of  religious  books,  by  which 
the  Protestants  kept  up  their  knowledge  in  their  solitude, 
were  seized  and  burnt.  The  same  destructive  policy  had 
been  pursued  at  an  earlier  day.  In  1685,  such  a  pile  of  Bi- 
bles and  Testaments  was  collected  in  the  town  of  Melz,  as 
required  twelve  hours  to  consume — no  bad  proof,  by  the 
way,  of  the  extent  of  Scriptural  reading  among  the  people. 
A  number  of  both  sexes,  and  all  ranks  and  professions,  were 
imprisoned,  and  severely  punished  for  various  offences  against 
the  persecuting  edict  of  1724.  Some  were  subjected  to  the 
rack,  others  hanged  in  effigy.  One  Stephen  Arnaud,  for 
teaching  some  young  people  how  to  sing  the  Psalms  of  David, 
was  branded  with  a  hot  iron  and  set  in  the  pillory;  and,  as 
he  had  about  him,  when  taken,  a  New  Testament  and  a 
book  of  Psalms,  these  were  hung  about  his  neck.  Mr. 
James  Roger,  a  man  of  eighty  years  of  age,  of  indefatigable 
zeal  and  apostolic  character,  was  condemned  to  be  hanged 
for  preaching  the  Gospel  to  various  assemblies  of  Protes- 


OF    FRANCE.  377 

tants.  An  interesting  account  is  given  of  the  last  moments 
of  this  venerable  martyr: — 

"Being  apprised  in  jail  of  his  sentence,  he  took  the  first 
opportunity  to  step  into  the  adjacent  yard,  from  whence  he 
could  easily  be  heard  by  many  confined  Protestants,  and  told 
them  that  '  the  happy  day  was  come  wherein  he  was  to  seal, 
wnth  his  own  blood,  the  grand  truths  which  he  had  preached 
unto  them ;  and  exhorted  them  to  be  steadfast  and  unmove- 
able  in  the  religion  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  they  had 
hitherto  professed.'  This  he  did  in  so  moving  and  so  strong 
a  style  that  every  body  melted  into  tears.  About  four  in  the 
afternoon,  he  was  carried  to  the  place  of  execution,  repeating, 
with  a  loud  voice,  the  51st  psalm.  So  much  mildness  and 
serenity  appeared  on  his  countenance,  that  the  Papists  them- 
selves, of  the  better  sort,  could  not  help  crying;  and  even 
two  Jesuits  appointed  to  attend  him,  passed  great  encomiums 
upon  him.  Thus  died  that  good  man,  much  regretted  by 
his  flock,  and  by  all  that  are  friends  to  truth  and  virtue. 
After  his  body  had  hung  twenty-four  hours  on  the  gallows, 
it  was  taken  down  and  dragged  through  the  streets,  and 
thrown  into  the  river  Isere,  that  runs  through  the  town. 
Such  was  the  burying-place  assigned  for  him." 

We  read,  and  all  on  unexceptionable  authority,  of  various 
other  species  of  great  harshness  and  cruelty — such  as  de- 
grading twenty-nine  persons  of  noble  extraction  to  plebeian- 
ism — of  declaring  the  marriages  of  Protestants  invalid,  ille- 
gitimatizing  their  families,  and  rendering  them  incapable  of 
inheriting  property — of  fines,  and  sentences  to  the  galleys, 
of  slavery  for  life — of  firing  upon  a  Protestant  assembly,  and 
killing  nearly  forty  persons  on  the  spot,  after  solemnly  pro- 
mising to  protect  them.  Notwithstanding  all  this  rigour  in 
those  provinces  where  the  Protestants  chiefly  prevailed,  it  is 
gratifying  to  be  informed  by  the  author  of  "  Popery  Always 
the  Same,"  a  pamphlet  published  by  the  "  Society  for  Pro- 
moting Christian  Knowledge,"  that  the  zeal  of  the  Protes- 
tants was  not  in  the  least  degree  slackened,  and  sixty  years 
of  persecution  failed  to  destroy  them ;  and  that,  so  far  from 
being  diminished,  they  were  very  much  increased  in  num- 
ber. It  is  worth  recording  the  noble  reply  of  a  lawyer  who 
had  been  confined  for  a  year  for  attending  upon  Protestant 
worship,  and  who  was  promised  release  if  he  would  only 
agree'never  to  return  to  it.  "  He  could  be  contented,"  he 
said,  "  to  remain  in  jail,  upon  condition  that  he  should  have 
leave  to  join  every  Sabbath-day  with  his  brethren  in  the  pub- 


378 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


lie  worship  of  God,  and  be  bound  to  surrender  himself  pris- 
oner the  day  following;  adding,  that  if  they  scrupled  to  take 
his  word,  he  would  give  them  a  legal  security." 

In  an  "  Historical  Memorial  of  the  most  Remarkable  Pro- 
ceedings against  the  Protestants  in  France,  from  the  year 
1744  to  1751,"  we  have  a  number  of  similar  sad  illustrations. 
Part  of  this  pamphlet  was  translated  from  the  French  by  the 
Bishop  of  Worcester,  showing  the  interest  which  was  felt  in 
the  cause  of  the  French  Church  in  this  country  at  that  time. 
The  author  classes  the  persecution  under  nine  different 
heads. 

"Blackened  by  the  vilest  calumnies;  deprived  of  what  is 
dearest  to  them  in  this  world — their  children;  made  ac- 
countable for  the  elopement  of  those  children;  necessitated  to 
have  their  marriages  celebrated  by  their  own  ministers,  and 
yet  charged,  on  account  of  those  marriages,  with  fornication, 
their  children  pronounced  illegitimate,  and  their  inheritance 
taken  from  them;  their  ministers  marked  out  for  death,  and 
despatched  like  common  malefactors;  themselves  also  ex- 
posed to  heavy  fines,  expensive  law  charges,  whippings,  the 
pillory,  the  galleys,  and  death,  for  worshipping  the  Supreme 
Being  according  to  their  consciences ;  nay,  denied  even  the 
repose  and  quiet  of  the  grave  itself;  and  yet,  under  this  com- 
plication of  evils,  not  daring  to  complain,  lest  the  weight  of 
their  misery  should  be  increased." 

We  shall  notice  one  or  two  specimens  of  Popish  cruelty 
which  have  not  yet  been  referred  to.  The  Saviour  and  his 
apostles,  in  primitive  times,  were  assailed  with  calumnies. 
This  is  a  bitter  form  of  persecution,  to  which  the  French 
Protestants  were  largely  exposed.  They  were  charged  with 
most  serious  crimes,  were  at  no  small  trouble  and  expense  in 
vindicating  themselves,  and  bringing  home  guilt  to  their  ac- 
cusers ;  but  when  they  succeeded  in  doing  so,  a  slight  punish- 
ment of  two  or  three  months'  imprisonment  was  all  which 
was  awarded.  This,  instead  of  restraining,  proved  an  en- 
couragement. Many  children  and  young  people,  from  eight 
to  nineteen  years  of  age,  were  carried  off  by  Popish  priests  to 
convents  and  nunneries.  In  Lower  Normandy  there  were 
not  less  than  thirty  such  captures  in  four  years,  creating  so 
great  consternation  and  distress,  that  six  hundred  Protestants 
immediately  set  off  from  this  district  for  foreign  parts.*  If 
the  young  persons  escaped  from  their  confinement,  the 
parents  were  held  responsible,  and  were  fined  and  imprisoned 
*  See  Historical  Memoir  p.  79. 


OF  FRANCE. 


379 


accordingly,  to  such  an  extent,  that  many  fathers  were  redu- 
ced to  beggary,  or  died  in  jail.  By  a  single  decree,  the  Par- 
liament of  Bordeaux,  in  May  1749,  dissolved  the  marriage 
relation  in  nearly  fifty  cases,  pronouncing  wives  to  be  con- 
cubines, and  lawful  children  illegitimate,  because  the  parents 
had  not  been  married,  and  would  not  be  married  by  a  Romish 
priest.  With  regard  to  the  various  ways  of  punishing  the 
Protestants,  on  account  of  assemblies  convened  for  divine 
worship,  the  author  says : — 

"The  instances  of  this  kind  are  so  numerous,  that  I  do 
not  well  know  where  to  begin  the  account.  I  could  set  out 
with  a  list  of  above  six  hundred  prisoners,  all  taken  up  in 
1744,  in  the  Upper  and  Lower  Languedoc,  Upper  and  Lower 
Cevennes,  Vivarais,  Dauphiny,  Provence,  County  of  Foix, 
Saintogne,  and  Poitou,  among  whom  there  are  many  gentle- 
men, barristers,  physicians,  substantial  citizens,  rich  mer- 
chants and  tradesmen,  who  have  suffered  long  and  cruel  con- 
finement, and  were  not  released  without  arbitrary  and  ruinous 
fines  and  contributions.  I  might  also  produce  another  list 
of  upwards  of  eight  hundred  persons  sentenced  to  divers 
penalties,  among  whom  there  are  more  than  eighty  gentle- 
men. The  ParHament  of  Grenoble  alone  summoned  up- 
wards of  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons,  in  the  months  of 
August,  October,  and  November,  1744,  and  put  them  to  a 
great  expense  both  in  travelling  charges  and  law  charges." 

One  of  the  leading  offences  in  these  days,  was  the  assem- 
bling for  public  worship,  and  celebrating  baptism,  marriage, 
and  the  Lord's  Supper.  In  the  face  of  opposition,  twenty 
thousand  persons  have  been  known,  in  the  light  of  day,  to 
convene  for  such  purposes — and  what  was  the  penalty  ?  In 
one  case  it  was  accounted  an  exceedingly  mitigated  one,  though 
it  condemned  twenty-eight  Protestants  in  a  single  province  to 
the  galley  for  life;  in  another,  forty-five  to  the  same  doom, 
all  of  them  gentlemen  by  birth.  Among  them  was  the  en- 
tire family  of  the  Lord  of  Lesterne. 

The  indignities  ofll'ered  to  the  dead  were  very  shocking. 
In  the  case  of  La  Montague,  in  1749,  the  Popish  curate  re- 
fused to  bury  the  body,  and  as  soon  as  the  poor  Protestants 
had  found  a  grave  for  it  in  the  open  field,  a  Roman  Catholic 
mob,  headed  by  a  surgeon,  dug  it  up.  "  They  had  no  sooner 
retired  from  the  grave,  than  these  men  dug  up  the  body, 
tied  a  rope  about  its  neck,  and  dragged  it  through  the  village, 
skipping  and  dancing  all  the  way,  to  the  sound  of  a  tabret 
and  fife.     In  every  place  they  stopped  at — to  take  a  breath- 


380  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

ing — they  beat  the  body  with  their  clubs,  using  these  ex- 
pressions:— 'This  blow  is  for  such  a  meeting  where  thou 
hast  been;  and  this  for  another  meeting.  Ah!  wretched 
Montague,  thou  shalt  go  no  more  to  sermon  at  Lormarin.'" 

In  1752,  there  were  two  martyrs  in  Languedoc,  both  min- 
isters of  fine  talents.  Of  M.  Benezet,  one  of  them,  who 
was  only  beginning  his  pastoral  work,  it  is  said  that  he  died 
with  the  most  resigned,  pious,  and  edifying  dispositions,  so 
that  the  executioner  himself  could  not  help  saying  that  he 
did  not  hang  a  man  but  an  angel. 

"  When  he  was  taken  out  of  prison  to  be  brought  to  the 
place  of  execution,  M.  Flechier,  who  was  confined  near  the 
prison,  and  who  guessed  by  the  noise  what  was  transacting, 
looked  through  the  bars  of  his  window,  and  seeing  M. 
Benezet,  he  cried  out  to  him,  'Be  stout,  my  brother,  you 
have  but  one  step  to  heaven ;  fight  to  the  end  the  good  fight; 
keep  your  faith,  and  you  shall  receive  the  crown  of  righte- 
ousness which  is  prepared  for  you :  sing  a  psalm  ;' — which 
the  martyr  hearing,  he  began  to  sing  the  51st  psalm  and 
being  reproved  by  the  major  of  the  citadel,  he  told  him  with 
resolution,  '  Do  your  duty;  I  do  mine.'  When  he  was  at 
the  foot  of  the  gallows,  he  kneeled,  and  prayed  to  God  with 
a  great  deal  of  zeal,  then  went  up  the  ladder,  and  being  fol- 
lowed by  one  of  the  Jesuits,  who  presented  him  with  his 
crucifix  to  kiss,  he  repulsed  him  with  disdain;  and,  after  a 
short  prayer,  desired  the  executioner  to  turn  him  oft'.  So 
died  M.  Benezet,  gloriously  and  like  a  Christian,  with  a 
courage,  a  modesty,  a  mildness,  a  serenity,  and  holy  joy, 
which  greatly  edified  the  witnesses  of  his  martyrdom." 

Of  the  other,  Flechirr,  it  is  related:  "There  is  a  Roman 
Catholic  gentleman  who  says  he  would  gladly  bestow  his 
own  blood  to  save  his  ;  and  if  three  millions  of  livres  would 
purchase  his  liberty,  he  would  oblige  himself  to  raise  that 
sum." 

Three  brothers,  of  the  name  of  Grenier,  for  aiding  in  the 
escape  of  a  pastor,  were  condemned  to  be  beheaded.  The 
eldest  was  not  above  twenty-one  years  of  age.  When  the 
Jesuit  annoyed  the  brothers  with  the  crucifix  and  the  sug- 
gestions of  superstition,  the  eldest  exclaimed — and  thus 
showed  the  soundness  of  the  faith  of  all — "  Speak  to  us  of 
Him  who  died  for  our  sins,  and  rose  again  for  our  justifica- 
tion, and  we  are  ready  to  listen;  but  do  not  introduce  your 
superstitions."  When,  after  two  had  suffered,  the  Popish 
executioner  was  so  much  overcome,  that  he  entreated  the 


OF    FRA^'CE.  381 

third  to  save  his  life  by  abjuration — he  boldly  replied,  "  Do 
thy  duly,"  and  submitted  to  the  axe. 

This  was  a  very  sad  season  in  the  history  of  the  poor 
Protestants.  No  year  seems  to  have  been  more  terrible  than 
1752.  In  addition  to  the  persecutions  of  man,  there  was  a 
great  failure  of  the  means  of  subsistence  in  Languedoc,  one 
of  the  provinces  in  which  the  members  of  the  Reformed 
Church  were  most  numerous.  A  gentleman  writes:  "The 
harvests  for  the  last  seasons  have  been  so  fruitless,  that  the 
whole  country  is  in  a  state  of  inexpressible  poverty.  The 
crop  of  silk-worms,  which  used  to  bring  in  such  considerable 
sums,  has  entirely  failed  for  the  last  three  years,  as  have  the 
other  crops  of  corn,  wine,  and  oil.  Every  thing  sells  at  an 
exorbitant  price,  and  two-thirds  of  our  town,  with  incessant 
labour,  can  scarcely  procure  subsistence."  Such  a  state  of 
things  as  this  might  have  softened  a  savage,  but  it  could  not 
soften  Popery.  The  Protestants,  in  their  deep  distress,  had 
assembled  together  for  the  worship  of  that  God  who  alone 
could  sustain  them,  and  for  this  the  place  was  immoderately 
fined  £1216  16s.,  which  was  exacted  without  the  delay  of 
a  moment.  Another  letter,  speaking  of  the  same  district, 
and  period,  says:  "In  the  meanwhile  trade  is  entirely  stop- 
ped. No  payments  are  made.  No  sale  of  goods  is  to  be 
obtained  even  at  a  loss.  The  province  is  in  the  utmost  con- 
sternation." 

Dr.  licss,  describing  the  general  effects  of  Popish  severity 
at  this  time,  states  that  multitudes  left  their  houses  and  pos- 
sessions, and  fled  to  Switzerland  or  Ireland,  which  occasion- 
ed so  great  a  depopulation  in  Languedoc,  that  the  Marquis 
de  Paulney  was  sent  by  the  Government  to  inquire  into  the 
cause  of  the  emigration.  And  yet  so  little  does  he  seem  to 
have  ascertained  the  true  and  obvious  cause,  that,  two  years 
later,  we  learn  there  was  an  army  of  not  less  than  fifty  to 
sixty  thousand  men  in  the  single  province  of  Languedoc  to 
hunt  down  the  Protestants.  Well  might  the  great  and  good 
George  Whitfield,  in  "A  Short  Address  to  Persons  of  all 
Denominations,  occasioned  by  the  alarm  of  an  intended 
Invasion,"  printed  in  1756,  exclaimed  in  his  animated 
style, — 

"  Speak,  Languedoc,  speak,  and  tell,  if  ihou  canst,  how 
many  Protestant  ministers  have  been  lately  executed,  how 
many  more  of  their  hearers  have  been  dragooned  and  sent 
to  the  galleys,  and  how  many  hundreds  are  now,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  above  mentioned  edict,  lying  in  prisons,  and 


382 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


fast  bound  in  misery  and  iron,  for  no  other  crime  than  that 
unpardonable  one  in  the  Romish  Church — I  mean  hearing 
and  preaching  the  pure  Gospel  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus." 

If  there  can  be  any  aggravations  of  a  crime  in  itself  so 
aggravated  as  persecution,  we  must  say  there  were  various 
aggravations  in  the  period  which  we  have  been  surveying : 
there  had  been  all  the  direful  experience  of  the  Revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  to  warn — the  desolation  and  misery 
of  protracted  and  unsuccessfid  war — repeated,  wide-spread, 
and  severe  distress,  as  in  1748,  when  the  specie  of  the  coun- 
try disappeared,  thousands  of  acres  w^ent  out  of  cultivation, 
ships  rotted  in  the  harbours,  the  village  of  fifteen  hundred 
sunk  down  to  six  hundred,  and  taxes  could  not  be  raised. 
These  things  should  all  have  softened,  and  led  to  repentance 
toward  God,  and  mercy  toward  man;  but  the  Church  of 
Rome  is  incorrigible;  she  still  pressed  forward  in  her  career 
of  persecution,  and  that,  too,  at  the  very  time  when  her  own 
pretensions  were  so  extravagant,  that  an  edict  was  passed 
against  monasteries,  and  the  king  had  to  restrain  the  ridicu- 
lous miracles  at  the  tomb  of  the  Abbe  de  Paris,  by  posting 
up  over  the  gate  of  the  burying-ground  the  celebrated  in- 
scription, "  By  the  authority  of  the  king:  No  more  miracles 
are  to  be  wrought  here." 

While  the  Protestant  Church  of  France  was  so  depressed 
and  suffering,  though  withal  firm  and  resigned,  the  Church 
of  Scotland  was,  as  a  whole,  peaceful.  How  different  the 
fortunes  of  the  Church  of  France!  Her  persecution  termi- 
nated not  in  freedom,  but  in  a  deeper  and  more  comprehen- 
sive imprisonment  and  slaughter.  Man  did  all  that  he  could 
to  blot  her  out  of  existence.  Most  varied  are  God's  dispen- 
sations to  his  people,  but  they  are  all  righteous;  and,  in  the 
present  case,  there  may  have  been  an  important  end  to  serve. 
Who  can  tell,  that  while  the  Church  of  Scotland  was  placed 
in  circumstances  to  succour  and  befriend  the  Church  of 
France,  the  very  protracted  sufi'ering  of  the  latter  may  not 
have  been  the  means  of  protecting  her  from  the  successful 
inroads  of  Popish  pretenders?  Certainly  nothing  was  more 
fitted  to  arm  the  people  of  Scotland  against  such  an  invasion, 
in  1745,  if  they  were  in  danger  of  forgetting  the  sufferings 
of  their  fathers,  than  just  the  continued  spectacle,  through 
seventy  years,  of  the  most  unrelenting  persecution  of  their 
French  Protestant  brethren.  How  great  the  wisdom  and 
the  goodness  of  God! 


OF    FRANCE. 


383 


Perhaps  the  reader  will  here  pardon  a  slight  digression. 
It  is  melancholy,  that,  with  all  the  light  and  civilization  of 
modern  times,  and  all  the  proved  inefficiency  of  persecution, 
the  saints  of  God  should  still  be  so  severely  oppressed.  Po- 
pery was  a  persecutor,  we  have  seen,  in  France,  in  the  six- 
teenth, seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries.  We  shall,  by 
and  by,  see  that  she  is  a  persecutor  in  the  present,  the  nine- 
teenth century;  but  the  fact  to  which  I  wish  to  call  the 
reader's  attention  is,  that  while  there  was  so  much  suffering 
for  the  truth's  sake  in  France,  other  quarters  of  Europe  were 
not  altogether  free.  Britain  might  now  be  at  rest;  but  in 
Poland  and  Austria  a  violent  persecution  was  awakened. 

With  regard  to  the  first,  it  appears,  that  though  the  king 
of  Poland,  like  the  late  monarch  of  France,  w^as  under  deep 
obligation  to  his  Protestant  subjects,  he  forgot  the  claims  of 
gratitude,  and  on  occasion  of  some  tumult  in  the  town  of 
Thorn,  in  1724,  called  forth  by  a  Popish  procession,  in- 
flicted the  severest  punishment  on  the  Protestants,  as  its 
supposed  authors.  The  Protestant  President  and  Vice-Pre- 
sident of  the  town,  for  not  preventing  the  commotion  by  the 
exercise  of  official  authority,  were  beheaded,  and  their  pro- 
perty confiscated;  fifteen  were  beheaded  for  not  showing  due 
respect  to  a  Jesuit  college;  a  number  of  others  were  quar- 
tered and  burnt  for  treating  an  image  of  the  Virgin  in  a  sim- 
ilar manner;  and  a  multitude,  besides,  fined  and  imprisoned 
as  accessories.  The  Protestants  were  also  deprived  of  their 
magistrates  and  place  of  worship ;  and  though  most  of  the 
Protestant  powers  of  Europe  interposed  for  a  reversal  of  the 
sentence,  and  threatened  Poland  with  war  if  she  persisted, 
such  was  the  keen  and  malignant  spirit  of  the  Papists,  that 
they  defied  all  opposition,  and  held  by  their  cruelly  unre- 
strained. Much  about  the  same  time,  (1730,)  the  poor  Vau- 
dois  of  the  valley  of  Pragelas,  to  the  number  of  eight  hun- 
dred, were  driven  from  their  homes  by  the  violence  of  the 
Popish  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  sought  refuge  in  Switzerland 
and  Holland.  The  adherents  of  the  savage  "  Beast"  of 
persecution  in  Europe  seem  to  have  had  a  mutual  under- 
standing, and  to  have  moved  together  as  if  they  would  over- 
whelm the  Church  of  God. 

With  reference,  again,  to  Austria,  as  the  fruit  of  a  won- 
derful interposition  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  between 
twenty  and  thirty  thousand  of  a  Roman  Catholic  population, 
situated  in  the  very  heart  of  Popish  territories,  and  without 
any  aid  from  Protestant  missionaries — with  nothing  to  guide 


384 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


them  but  the  Word  of  God  and  good  books — were  brought 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  The  persons 
to  whom  I  refer  were  Austrians,  residing  in  the  district  of 
Sahzburg,  and  their  religious  change  was  so  decided,  that 
they  would  no  longer  remain  in  the  communion  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  The  Popish  archbishop,  in  whose  domin- 
ions they  dwelt,  making  their  lives  bitter  to  them,  they  emi- 
grated from  their  native  country  in  successive  companies, 
during  the  years  1731-32-33.  On  application  to  the  king 
of  Prussia,  he  received  a  large  body  into  his  Silesian  terri- 
tories, where  he  gave  them  a  permanent  residence.  Others, 
and  in  great  numbers,  found  their  way  into  Holland  and 
England,  from  whence  they  sailed  to  Georgia,  in  America. 
Much  kindness  was  shown  to  them  wherever  they  went.  In 
this  country  a  collection  v/as  made  in  their  behalf,  and  two 
missionaries  and  a  schoolmaster  were  sent  out  and  long  main- 
tained for  their  benefit.  Reference  is  made  to  this  in  the 
following  extract  from  the  proceedings  of  the  "  Society  for 
Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  in  Foreign  Parts,"  in 
1740:— 

*'In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1732,  the  society,  when 
they  heard  the  melancholy  account  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
Protestants  in  Saltzburg,  (having  first  obtained  his  Majesty's 
leave,)  resolved  upon  doing  all  that  lay  in  their  power  to 
raise  collections  for  their  persecuted  brethren.  To  this  end, 
in  June  the  same  year,  they  published  an  account  of  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  persecuted  Protestants  in  the  archbishoprick 
of  Saltzburg,  and  afterwards  published  a  further  account  in 
1733.  These  accounts  being  enforced  by  the  generous  ex- 
ample of  many  noble  and  honourable  persons,  as  also  by 
liberal  contributions  and  earnest  exhortations  from  the  right 
reverend  the  bishops  and  their  clergy,  had,  through  God's 
blessing,  so  good  an  efl^ect,  that  the  society,  (besides  many 
large  remittances  to  Germany,)  have  been  enabled  to  send 
over  to  the  English  colony  in  Georgia,  in  the  years  1733- 
34-35,  three  transports  consisting  of  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  Protestant  emigrants,  who,  with  two  missionaries 
and  a  schoolmaster,  are  settled  by  themselves  atEbenezer."* 

As  to  those  who  found  their  way  into  Silesia,  the  accounts 
given  by  contemporaries  and  eye-witnesses  are  very  inter- 
esting, nay,  afl!'ecting.  The  exiles  were,  for  the  most  part, 
poor  labouring  people,  humbly  clothed,  and,  to  use  the  lan- 

*  Vide  An  Account  of  the  Society  for  Promoting-  Christian  Know- 
ledge.— London,  1740. 


OF    FRANCE. 


385 


guage  of  a  writer  at  Augsburg,  it  added  "  to  their  calamity, 
that  they  were  forced  to  begin  their  journey  in  the  depth  of 
winter,  when  the  cold  is  most  severe.  The  first  eight  hmi- 
dred  spent  five  whole  weeks  on  their  journey,  and  that  in 
the  most  bitter,  cold,  and  stormy  weather,  and  were  a  fort- 
night in  wandering  over  mountains  and  hills,  not  knowing 
whither  they  went.  This  fatigued  and  emaciated  them  so 
much,  that  they  were  almost  starved,  having  been  in  want  of 
bread  for  three  days  together."  But,  amid  all  privations, 
these  and  their  fellow-sufferers  were  most  contented  and 
cheerful,  spending  much  of  their  time  in  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  prayer,  and  singing  Luther's  favourite  psalm — 
the  46th,  "  God  is  our  refuge  and  our  strength,"  &c.,  as  they 
moved  along  in  companies  to  the  place  of  their  destination. 
They  also  showed  the  greatest  anxiety  to  hear  and  profit  by 
the  addresses  of  the  Protestant  ministers  who  were  appoint- 
ed to  receive  and  instruct  them,  and  who  seem  all  to  have 
been  faithful  evangelical  men.  The  character  of  the  exiles 
became  their  profession.  Whatever  enemies  may  have  al- 
leged, their  Confession  of  Faith  is  a  proof  of  their  ortho- 
doxy, and  the  very  passports  which  they  received  from  their 
Popish  oppressor,  the  archbishop,  plainly  testify  that  they 
were  altogether  free  from  any  moral  charge.  It  was  their 
Protestantism,  and  their  Protestantism  alone,  which  vyas 
ground  of  warfare.  A  writer,  describing  the  party  which 
bent  their  way  to  Kauff  beeyren — and  it  is  true  of  all — says, 
"  Their  behaviour  among  us,  both  in  word  and  deed,  was 
such  as  became  true  Christians:  they  were  modest,  humble, 
peaceable,  contented  with,  and  thankful  for,  whatever  was 
given  them;  and  expressed  the  greatest  delight  in  praying, 
singing  of  psalms,  and  reading  good  books."  It  was  re- 
marked, that  though  they  had  suffered  so  much,  they  seldom 
spoke  of  their  oppressors,  and  when  they  did  so,  discovered 
no  bitterness  or  resentment.  The  way,  too,  in  which  they 
M^ere  treated  by  the  people,  through  whose  countries  they 
passed,  and  among  whom  they  sojourned  for  a  season,  bears 
high  testimony  to  the  consistency  of  their  Christian  charac- 
ter and  spirit.  They  were  hailed  with  welcome  by  multi- 
tudes who  vied  with  each  other  who  should  receive  them  to 
their  houses  and  service:  some  taking  them  home  in  coaches 
and  other  conveyances.  A  liberal  collection  of  £000  sterHng 
was  at  once  raised  in  the  town  of  Augsburg  for  their  relief; 
and  the  whole  deportment  of  the  exiles  was  so  meek  and 
striking,  that  it  is  related,  not  only  the  older  Protestants,  but 

25 


386 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


many  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  some  even  of  the  Jews 
who  were  brought  into  contact  with  them,  were  favourably 
impressed  in  behalf  of  the  true  religion,  and  gladly  contri- 
buted pecuniary  aid.  Indeed,  the  persecution  of  the  Saltz- 
burgliers,  which  was  meant  for  evil,  yea,  for  destruction, 
proved  the  occasion  and  the  means  of  spiritual  and  lasting 
good  to  many.  Another  writer,  speaking  of  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  to  the  exiles,  when  they  arrived  in  Augsburg, 
says  that  it  took  place  in  the  presence  of  a  great  multitude 
of  people,  high  and  low — Protestants,  Papists,  Jews,  and 
others;  and  adds,  "such  a  remarkable  publication  of  the 
Gospel,  and  attended  with  such  sensible  impressions,  hath 
not  been  known  at  Augsburg  since  the  time  that  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  was  first  presented  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 
in  the  year  1530,  in  this  place;"  in  other  words,  for  two 
hundred  years  !  Such  was  the  persecution  of  the  Saltzburgh- 
ers  of  Austria.  Happily,  the  result  was  very  different  from 
that  of  the  poor  Protestants  of  France.  Though  it  w-as 
a  privation  to  leave  their  native  land,  yet  they  were  speedily 
received  into  a  neighbouring  countr}^,  where  they  were  so 
well  treated,  that  they  w^ere  tempted  to  forget  the  land  of 
their  fathers.  Unlike  their  French  brethren,  they  were  not 
trodden  down  and  destroyed  by  violence. 

It  is  impossible,  how^ever,  to  think  of  the  persecuted  Ans- 
trians,  and  of  the  refuge  which  they  obtained  in  Prussia 
more  than  a  century  ago,  without  thinking  of  the  persecu- 
tion, at  the  present  day,  of  the  men  who  occupy  the  same 
soil,  and  of  the  asylum  which  they  have  found  in  the  same 
Silesia.  The  Tyrolese,  or  Zillerthallers,  occupy  the  same 
district  with  the  Saltzburghers  of  a  former  age,  and  were 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  by  similar  means — 
not  schools,  or  a  preached  Gospel,  far  less  by  clergy  of 
the  "  Episcopal  succession," — but  by  the  written  Word  and 
good  books.  It  is  probable  that  some  remains  of  the  seed 
of  the  kingdom  lingered  on  the  ground  for  one  hundred 
years,  'i'he  Popish  archbishop  thought  the  seed  quite  ex- 
tinct, and  so  it  seemed ;  but  as  some  of  the  seeds  of  nature 
can  sleep  in  the  earth  for  ages,  and  yet  as  soon  as  brought 
near  the  surface,  and  favoured  with  the  sun  and  the  shower, 
can,  and  do,  start  into  life,  so  the  interesting  associations  con- 
nected with  the  name  of  the  persecuted  Saltzburghers,  could 
not  be  forgotten.  When  the  favourable  season  arrived,  the 
fruit  accordingly  appeared.  Hence  the  importance  of  cher- 
ishing the  memory  of  the  martyrs.     It  may  be  the  means  of 


OF    FRANCE.  387 

religious  revival  at  a  remote  after  period.  Whether  any  tie 
can  be  traced  between  the  two  cases  or  not,  the  fact  is  cer- 
tain, that  Popery,  which  has  persecuted  wherever  its  authori- 
ty has  been  called  in  question,  particularly  in  the  lifteenth, 
sixteenth,  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  has  also  per- 
secuted in  the  nineteenth.  Five  hundred  Tyrolese,  poor 
natives  of  the  mountain,  after  much  cruel  treatment,  were 
driven  from  their  homes  by  Popish  Austria  so  lately  as  1835, 
and  for  no  other  crime  than  that  of  leaving  the  communion 
of  the  Church  of  Rome.  Much  to  the  credit  of  the  late 
king  of  Prussia — the  descendent  of  the  infidel  Frederick — 
they  were  received  with  open  arms,  and  located  in  part  of 
the  Prussian  territory  in  Silesia.  There  their  residence  is 
now  permanently  fixed ;  and  while  they  continue  to  adorn 
their  Christian  profession,  they  also  prove  loyal  and  indus- 
trious subjects  of  their  new  sovereign.  It  is  remarkable  that 
Protestant  Prussia  should  thus,  at  the  end  of  one  hundred 
years,  be  again  honoured  as  the  asylum  of  persecuted  Aus- 
trians.  In  this  respect,  she  acts  the  part  of  Holland  to  the 
oppressed  French  and  British  of  other  days  ;  and  surely  it  is 
matter  of  gratitude  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  that 
he  thus,  in  all  ages,  so  opportunely  opens  up  refuges  for  his 
suffering  saints. 

In  this  connection,  it  would  be  improper  to  forget  or  dis- 
guise the  persecution  which,  unhappily,  at  present,  prevails 
in  Prussia  under  the  sanction  of  government.  The  same 
country  which  is  affording  an  asylum  for  the  persecuted,  is 
the  scene  of  a  severe  persecution  of  its  own  inhabitants,  some 
of  them  probably  the  descendents  of  the  Saltzburgher  exiles. 
This  is  deeply  to  be  deplored,  not  only  on  account  of  the 
gross  inconsistency  which  it  betrays,  but  because  the  late 
king,  who  was  the  chief  instigator,  was  a  warm  friend  of  the 
"  Bible  Society,"  and  the  "  Society  for  the  Conversion  of 
the  Jews,"  circulated  one  hundred  thousand  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  among  his  soldiery — encouraged  evangelical  min- 
isters in  the  churches,  and  professors  in  the  universities — 
and  boldly  resisted  the  revived  pretensons  of  Popery  in  the 
person  of  the  Popish  archbishop  of  Cologne;  in  short,  gave 
considerable  evidence  of  personal  Christianity.  At  first  sight 
it  is  rather  difficult  to  explain  the  persecution.  As  there  has 
recently  been  no  small  revival  of  evangelical  religion  in  Prus- 
sia, one  might  imagine  that  it  was  the  expression  of  the 
natural  hatred  and  hostility  of  men  and  civil  Governments  to 
the  Cross  of  Christ,  such  as  was  manifested  a  fev/  years 


388 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


ago,  not  only  by  the  Socinian  ministers  and  magistrates,  but 
by  the  Socinian  mob  of  Switzerland — but  this  explanation 
is  not  applicable.  The  king  was  evangelical — and  a  great 
body,  the  largest  number  of  the  evangelical  ministers  and 
professors,  are  not  persecuted.  They  are  allowed  to  retain 
and  propagate  their  evangelical  sentiments  unchallenged. 
The  question  turns  upon  the  reception  or  rejection  of  a  new 
liturgy  which  is  acknowledged  to  be  evangelical.  Those 
who  receive  it,  enjoy  all  the  rights  of  toleration — those  who 
refuse  it,  are  the  victims  of  fine  and  imprisonment.  The 
persecution  then  is,  strictly  speaking,  not  an  Evangelical,  but 
an  Erastian  persecution,  and  it  is  well  to  see  that  there  may 
be  different  grounds  of  persecution  even  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  that  Erastianism,  or  the  usurped  power  of  the 
civil  magistrate  over  sacred  things,  may  be  one,  and  that  not 
an  unlikely  form.  However  unexceptionable  the  liturgy  may 
be  in  itself — and  I  believe  there  are  few  complaints  on  this 
head — what  the  faithful  men  in  Prussia  object  to  is,  that  the 
king  or  civil  power  interfere  with  ecclesiastical  things  in  such 
a  way  as  the  Scriptures  condemn,  in  short,  prescribe  to  the 
Church  in  what  manner  she  is  to  worship  God.  It  is  Eras- 
tianism of  which  they  complain ;  and  well  may  they  do  so. 
It  is  the  curse  of  their  country ;  nay,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
serious  evils  of  the  age.  Dr.  Pye  Smith,  in  his  preface 
to  "  Guido  and  Julius,"  remarks,  of  Prussia — "To  other 
causes  of  evil  is  to  be  added,  the  ubiquitous  meddling  of 
Government  with  all  private  and  public  life ;  the  dilhculty, 
amounting  to  almost  an  impossibility,  of  holding  any  meet- 
ing for  a  religious  purpose,  except  with  the  permission  of 
Government — a  permission  not  very  readily  granted,  and  to 
ask  for  which  would  not  always  be  safe;  the  utter  prostitu- 
tion of  religious  liberty;  the  acts  of  the  civil  power  for  ad- 
mission to  the  requisite  studies,  for  ordination,  for  induction, 
and  for  permanence  in  a  parish  or  in  any  situation;  the  sum- 
mary ejection  of  any  clergyman  without  reason  assigned,  or 
trial,  or  remedy;  these,  and  other  causes  allied  to  them,  can- 
not but  secure  a  supply  of  unbelieving  and  ungodly  young 
men  who  will  lay  waste  the  Church  of  God.  That  such  a 
man  as  Tholuck  should  have  only  the  alternative  of  support- 
ing this  system,  or  of  suffering  expatriation,  is  a  melancholy 
reflection.  The  governors  of  those  nations  little  think  what 
they  are  doing.  They  may  for  a  time  stop  up  the  vents  of 
the  volcano;  but  they  are  only  compressing  its  forces,  that 
the  inevitable  burst  may  be  at  last  the  more  terrible.     In  the 


or    FRANCE.  389 

meantime,  the  proceedings  of  the  king  of  Prussia  attract 
great  observation.  To  support  evangelical  truth,  to  unite 
the  two  Protestant  communions,  and  to  recommend  his  new- 
liturgy,  he  is  employing  both  smiles  and  frowns — the  expec- 
tances of  favour  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  ejectments, 
banishments,  imprisonment,  and  military  force.  The  gen- 
uine friends  of  the  Gospel  are  confounded  with  those  who 
are  so  only  in  appearance,  and  the  evangelism  of  all  is  as- 
cribed to  the  sunshine  of  court  favour,  while  men  of  neolo- 
gical  or  infidel  views,  and  profane  men  generally,  are  revolt- 
ed, disgusted,  and  hardened  in  their  guilt." 

Erastianism  is,  in  a  great  measure,  the  fruit  of  the  degene- 
rate Christianity  of  the  last  century,  both  on  the  Continent 
and  in  Britain,  and  wherever  it  prevails  it  goes  far  to  keep 
true  religion  in  a  low  and  weakly  condition.  If  men  have 
relaxed  and  slender  views  of  the  honour  of  Christ  as  King, 
and  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Church  which  he  has 
bought  with  his  blood,  they  will  not  entertain  very  exalted 
views  of  other  doctrines,  of  his  offices,  and  of  the  Church's 
duties.  Hence  the  importance  of  maintaining  the  headship 
of  Christ,  and  the  spiritual  independence  of  the  Church  at 
all  hazards.  Persecution  in  any  circumstances  is  most  me- 
lancholy, it  is  essentially  antichristian;  but  it  is  peculiarly 
affecting  when  it  appears  in  the  form  of  evangelical  men  op- 
pressing evangelical  men,  and  driving  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands from  their  native  land,  simply  because  they  resist  that 
Erastianism  which  the  Word  of  God  requires  them  to  resist. 
But  if  it  has  the  effect  of  drawing  public  attention,  in  this 
and  other  countries,  to  the  evils  and  dangers  of  Erastianism, 
and  more  resolutely  arming  men  against  its  spirit  and  prac- 
tices, the  Christian  Church  will  have  little  cause  to  regret 
even  the  privations  and  sufferings  of  the  many  faithful  Ger- 
man Lutherans  who  are  now  emigrating  to  the  shores  of 
America.  Nor  will  there  be  much  harm  though  the  king 
and  kingdom  of  Prussia,  which  were  perhaps  unduly  extol- 
led, should  henceforward  be  rated  at  a  lower  and  juster  es- 
timate. 


CONTEMPORANEOUS  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH   OF 
SCOTLAND,  FROM  1715  TO  1755. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Revolution  Church  of  Scotland  had 
various  difficulties  with  which  to  contend,  and  these  of  a 


390 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


serious  character ;  but  that  she  made  the  most  pleasing  pro- 
gress, and  that  her  labours  were  crowned  with  gratifying 
success.  The  most  formidable  injury  which  she  sustained 
was  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  Lay  Patronage,  in  1711,  under 
Queen  Anne.  This  was  at  once  a  breach  of  the  Articles  of 
Union,  and  an  invasion  of  her  rights,  seriously  affecting  her 
character  and  best  interests.  But  the  poison  worked  slowly 
and  secretly.  Viewed  externally,  the  Protestant  aspects  of 
Great  Britain  became  more  favourable  than  they  had  been. 
In  the  latter  years  of  Queen  Anne,  there  was  a  growing  ten- 
dency towards  Jacobitism  and  Popery.  Many  believe  that 
the  Queen  was  inclined  to  the  succession  of  her  brother,  the 
Pretender;  some  are  of  opinion  that  she  herself  leaned  to 
Popery.  It  is  certain  that  the  Popish  party  were  full  of  life 
and  energy  in  her  latter  years,  and  that  they  hoped  for  an 
overturn  of  the  Protestant  succession,  to  which  the  proceed- 
ings against  the  Scottish  Church  were  steps.  In  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  these  schemes  and  hopes  were  blasted,  by  the 
death  of  the  Queen,  and  the  calling  to  the  throne  of  the  Han- 
over family,  in   the  person  of  the   Protestant  George  I.* 

*  Many  of  the  circumstances  connected  with  tiie  succession  of  the 
present  royal  family  to  the  throne  of  Britain,  indicate  the  presence  of 
the  providential  and  moral  government  of  God.  It  is  through  the 
Princess  Sophia  Elizabeth,  a  daughter  of  James  VI.,  that  they  are 
connected  with  the  former  family,  and  hold  their  title. .  Sophia  was  a 
Protestant,  of  strong  mind  and  amiable  manners,  and  married  Frede- 
rick, Elector  Palatine  of  Bohemia  and  the  Rliine,  who  was  also  a 
Protestant.  Ere  long  they  were  called  upon  to  suffer  for  their  religion, 
and  they  nobly  endured  the  trial.  Popish  Austria  refused  to  fulfil 
the  edicts  in  behalf  of  the  Protestants — rose  against  their  prince,  and 
drove  him,  his  queen,  family,  and  many  of  his  subjects,  to  Presbyte- 
rian Holland,  at  that  time  the  refuge  of  the  oppressed.  There  they  re- 
mained for  twenty-eight  years,  while  the  Protestant  cause  was  well- 
nigh  destroyed  in  their  dominions.  At  the  end  of  this  period  they 
regained  part  of  their  possessions,  and  were  restored  to  the  throne, 
but  considerably  shorn  of  their  resources.  In  process  of  time,  how- 
ever,  after  many  changes  in  this  country,  they  were  found  nearest  to 
the  British  throne,  and  were  called  to  it  in  the  person  of  George  I., 
wlio  was  the  great-grandson  of  James  VI.  The  fortunes  of  the  male 
and  female  branches  of  James'  house  are  remarkably  diverse.  The 
male,  in  the  person  of  Charles  I.,  and  under  the  miserable  guidance 
of  his  Queen  and  Laud,  encouraged  a  restoration  of  Popery.  The 
foreign  Protestants  were  frowned  upon.  The  English  ambassador  to 
France  was  not  allowed  to  worship  with  the  French  Protestants,  or 
to  acknowledge  them  as  a  part  of  the  true  Church;  and  those  of  the 
number  who  had  found  their  way  into  this  country,  were  ill  used  by 
Laud.  Ten  congregations  of  Dutch  and  French  Protestants,  of  six 
thousand  communicants,  who  had  been  publicly  recognized  from  the 


OF    FRANCE.  0^1 

Wodrow,  in  his  unpublished  MS.,  notices  the  remarkable 
death  of  a  number  of  the  friends  of  Jacobitism  and  Popery  at 
the  same  time: — The  French  King  (Louis  XIV.,)  just  be- 
fore the  contemplated  Popish  invasion  of  Britain — the  Duke 

time  of  Edward  VI.,  were  broken  up,  and  three  thousand  manufac- 
turers were  tlius  driven  out  of  the  kingdom,  from  the  bishoprick  of 
Norwich  alone,  some  of  whom  employed  one  hundred  people.  The 
Mayor  of  Canterbury,  on  intereeding  with  the  king,  stated,  that  twelve 
hundred  of  their  people  were  supported  by  the  foreigners.  The  ef- 
fects of  Charles'  measures,  civil  and  religious,  were,  that  he  and  his 
counsellor  raised  a  civil  war  in  Great  Britain,  and  both  lost  their  heads 
upon  the  scaffold.  After  the  usurpation  of  twenty-years,  the  exiled 
son  of  Charles  was  brought  back  to  the  throne,  in  the  person  of  Charles 
II.,  and  tJie  providence  of  God  gave  tlie  family  a  new  opportunity  of 
recovering  themselves,  and  blessing  their  country;  but  untaught  by 
their  own  experience,  and  that  of  the  usurpation,  viz.,  that  Protestant- 
ism is  the  only  safety  of  the  Ciov/n,  and  of  this  land,  Charles  went 
back  to  Popery  in  a  more  offensive  and  flagitious  form  than  his  father, 
blending  with  this  the  most  shocking  persecution  of  the  saints  of  God. 
He  dies  without  an  heir :  his  brother  James  ascends  the  throne  a 
thorough  and  avowed  Papist.  In  three  short  years  a  great  and  glori- 
ous Protestant  Revolution  takes  place,  and  he  is  driven  for  ever  from 
the  palace  of  his  ancestors.  His  son-in-law,  the  Prince  of  Orange,  is 
called  in  as  a  decided  Protestant,  and,  though  a  Dutch  Presbyterian, 
receives  the  crown  of  Britain.  As  if  to  teach  the  nation  its  absolute 
dependence  on  the  providence  of  God,  he  dies  without  an  heir,  and  so 
does  his  successor  Queen  Anne,  another  daughter  of  James.  In  the 
meantime,  her  brother,  the  Popish  Pretender  to  the  throne,  still  lives, 
and,  aided  by  France,  is  eager  to  return,  and  bring  back  Poperj'  along 
with  him.  These  were  alarming  circumstances,  and  the  Prince  of 
Orange  laboured,  through  the  latter  years  of  his  reign,  to  meet  them. 
By  an  Art  of  Parliament  in  the  Commons,  carried  by  a  single  vote^ 
it  was  resolved,  on  the  death  of  Anne,  to  settle  the  succession  to  the 
throne  upon  the  female  branch  of  the  family  of  James  VI.,  as  the 
male  branches  might  now  be  said  to  be  exhausted  or  destroyed  by 
their  connection  with  Popery.  Even  this  solemn  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture was  attempted  to  be  set  aside  at  an  after  day,  and  the  attempt 
was  well  nigh  successful.  A  Popish  succession  was  prevented  only 
by  a  few  votes.  On  this  kind  interposition  of  Providence,  George  I., 
a  Protestant,  and  the  representative  of  a  severely  tried  Protestant 
family,  was  called  to  the  throne.  His  successors  have  not  only  been 
of  the  same  faith,  but  they  swear  allegiance  to  it  at  their  coronation, 
and  would  forfeit  their  right  to  the  crown  by  its  abandonment.  How 
striking,  then,  the  contrast  between  the  male  and  female  branches  of 
the  Stuart  family  !  The  former  favour  Popery,  and,  after  the  warning 
of  various  reverses,  are,  in  sixty  years,  dethroned  and  expelled.  The 
female  branch  clings  to  Protestantism  for  a  season — suffers  for  it — is 
gradually  restored  to  its  continental  possessions,  and,  in  eighty-five 
years  from  the  death  of  James  VI.,  is  unexpectedly  and  honourably 
rewarded  with  the  crown  of  Britain^  the  noblest  crown  in  the  world, 
which,  we  trust,  they  are  destined  for  ever  to  wear,  and  that  expressly 


392  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

of  Hamilton,  immediately  before  going  to  France,  where  his 
influence  would  have  been  exerted  on  the  Popish  side — 
Queen  Anne,  when  the  schemes  of  the  party  were  becom- 
ing mature — the  King  of  Sweden,  when  setting  out  to  Nor- 
way to  use  his  influence  against  Britain.  These  were  provi- 
dential events,  which  damped  the  enemies  of  the  Church; 
and  the  succession  of  a  Protestant  king  was  most  important. 
George  I.,  during  his  short  reign  of  thirteen  years,  may  be 
said  to  have  held  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe,  while  he 
crushed  Popish  rebellion  at  home,  and  maintained  peace 
among  his  own  subjects.  The  Evangelical  Dissenters  were 
indebted  to  him  for  various  favourable  changes  in  the  laws, 
which  pressed  heavily  upon  them  ;  and  distressed  and  per- 
secuted Protestants,  in  foreign  lands,  owed  much  to  him,  for 
his  counsels,  the  orders  he  gave  to  his  ambassadors,  and 
various  letters  which  he  directed  to  be  written  in  their  behalf, 
all  intended  at  once  to  protect  and  unite  their  interest.  It 
need  scarcely  be  said  that  the  Church  of  Scofland  was  warm- 
ly attached  to  the  Hanoverian  family.  After  the  proclama- 
tion by  Marr,  in  favour  of  the  Pretender,  all  the  ministers 
next  day,  some  of  them  in  the  face  of  no  small  danger,  prayed 
for  George  I.  by  name;  and  their  Irish  brethren  felt  in  a 
similar  manner.  The  celebrated  Francis  Hutcheson,  after- 
wards Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  University  of 
Glasgow,  and  an  able  writer  against  lay  patronage,  informed 
Wodrow,  as  related  in  his  unpublished  Analecta,  that  his 
father  was  a  Presbyterian  minister  in  Ulster,  and  suggested 

on  Protestant  principles.  Such  is  the  reward  of  a  faithful  adherence 
to  Protestantism.  It  may  be  mentioned,  as  tending  to  illustrate  the 
moral  government  of  God  the  more,  that  the  Boliemian  or  German 
family,  and  tlicir  Protestant  subjects,  were  so  much  reduced  in  pecu- 
niary circumstances,  when  obliged  to  sojourn  in  Holland,  that  the 
Princess  Sophia  begged  her  brother,  Charles  I.,  to  appoint  a  public 
collection  for  her  poor  people.  The  king  did  so ;  but  the  terms  in 
which  the  appointment  was  made  having,  by  recognizing  the  German 
Protestants  as  members  of  a  true  Church,  offended  the  semi-Papist 
tyrant  Laud,  the  collection  was  first  discouraged,  and  then  stopped  by 
him;  and  in  the  same  spirit  he  left  out  the  names  of  Sophia,  and  her 
husband  and  family,  from  the  Collect  for  the  Royal  Family,  in  a  new 
edition  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  not  judging  such  sufferers 
for  the  Reformed  Church  good  enough  Christians.  Strange,  that  in 
God's  good  time  and  way,  those  who  had  been  thus  insulted  and  de- 
pressed, should  be  raised  to  honour,  and  that  their  children  should 
now  be  seated  on  the  British  throne,  while  the  memory  of  Laud  has 
perished,  except  as  the  dangerous  counsellor,  who,  by  his  Popish  per- 
versity, brought  himself  and  his  sovereign  to  the  scaffold. 


OF    FRANCE. 


393 


to  the  Irish  Presbyterian  ministers,  about  the  year  1713, 
when  the  Hanoverian  succession  was  in  danger,  the  pro- 
priety of  making  out  a  list,  in  their  respective  congregations, 
of  persons  who  were  prepared  to  maintain  the  Protestant 
cause.  This  was  generally  agreed  to ;  and  soon  a  list  of 
fifty  thousand  persons  was  sent  over  to  the  Elector  of  Han- 
over, by  the  hands  of  a  French  Protestant  minister — persons 
who  might  be  counted  on  as  staunch  friends  of  his  family 
and  succession.  This  was  very  encouraging,  and  is  a  fresh 
proof  how  much  the  present  royal  family  are  indebted  to 
the  professors  of  Presbyterianism. 

Externally,  then,  the  reign  of  George  I.  was  favourable  to 
the  Church  of  Scotland ;  and  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  much 
good  continued  to  be  wrought  out  for  the  country,  through 
her  instrumentality,  both  at  that  period  and  for  many  years 
afterwards.  Her  different  schemes  and  labours  of  social  and 
Christian  benevolence,  might  be  said  to  be  in  active  operation. 
On  turning  to  the  Acts  of  the  General  Assembly,  printed  and 
unprinted,  we  find  the  same  liberality  in  contributing  to  the 
erection  of  bridges  and  harbours  as  in  former  days.  In  the 
course  of  a  few  years  I  have  counted  twenty-three  such 
cases ;  and  many  others,  doubtless,  are  not  recorded.  They 
are  often  mentioned  incidentally,  and  were  so  numerous,  that 
at  one  time  (1723,)  the  General  Assembly  resolved  she  would 
take  up  no  new  ones — a  resolution,  however,  which  she  did 
not  long  observe.  I  have  noticed  six  bridges  building  from 
the  funds  of  the  Church  at  the  same  time.  At  the  same  pe- 
riod, and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  nearly  twenty  collec- 
tions were  made  for  the  special  relief  of  the  poor  and  the  suffer- 
ing; several  of  them  for  widows  and  orphans,  and  the  Royal 
Infirmary  of  Edinburgh.  Nor  was  the  cause  of  the  Gospel 
in  foreign  lands  overlooked.  We  read  of  contributions  for 
German  Calvinists— for  the  churches  of  Lithuania,  in  behalf 
of  which,  not  less  than  fifty  Presbyteries  collected — for  the 
French  Protestants  of  Hildburghausen — for  Swiss  Protest- 
ants— for  French  and  German  Protestants  at  Copenhagen — 
for  French  Protestants  in  Saxony — for  the  Swiss  of  Pied- 
mont— for  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania — nay,  for  Lithua- 
nian bursars,  to  be  educated  regularly  in  this  country — and  for 
the  Cohege  of  New  Jersey,  in  the  United  States  of  America.* 

*  Of  a  later  day  we  have  the  following-  notices: — "At  a  meeting 
of  the  Associated  Pastors  in  Boston,  New  England,  September,  1752  : 

"  The  Reverend  Mr.  Pemberton  of  New  York,  one  of  the  trustees 
of  the  Infant  College  of  New  Jersey,  having  represented  to  us  that 


394 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


With  regard  to  the  Lithuanian  contributions,  Wodrow  states 
in  his  AnaUcta,  on  the  authority  of  Principal  Chambers,  that 
they  were  so  large  and  handsome,  that  they  brought  the 

the  trustees  are  sending  an  agent  both  to  England  and  Scotland,  in 
order  to  solicit  charitable  collections  for  the  building  and  endowing 
the  said  College,  which  the  trustees,  in  the  present  circumstances  of 
these  colonies,  can  see  no  other  way  to  accomplish — and  Mr.  Pem- 
berton  desiring  our  recommendation  of  this  design  to  our  brethren  in 
Great  Britain — we  cannot  but  express  our  apprehension  of  the  im- 
portance of  such  a  society  in  that  part  of  North  America,  for  supply- 
ing the  eight  British  Provinces,  south-westward  of  New  England, 
with  ministers  of  piety  and  learning,  for  want  of  which  great  and 
growing  numbers  of  people  in  those  southern  provinces  are  in  immi- 
nent danger  of  perishing  in  ignorance  and  error;  the  two  Colleges  in 
New  England  being  unable  to  supply  them  :  and  though  our  own 
College  in  Cambridge  hath  great  need  of  future  benefactions — and  we 
shall  be  glad  if  the  friends  of  religion  and  learning  would  help  us — 
yet,  therewith  we  would  also  commend  this  undertaking  to  the  Divine 
blessing,  and  to  the  beneficence  of  those  who  desire  the  enlargement 
of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  the  advancement  of  learning  in  those  ends 
of  the  earth.  And  whatever  any  shall  give  to  this  important  interest, 
we  apprehend  will  be  an  offering  acceptable  to  God,  and  of  extensive 
good  to  men  both  in  the  present  and  future  generations. 

"  In  the  name  and  by  order  of  the  Association. 

James  Sewall,  D.  D." 

"General  account  of  the  rise  and  state  of  the  College  lately  estab- 
lished in  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  in  America,  by  Rev.  G.  Tennant 
and  S.  Davie?,  agents  for  the  trustees.     Edinburgh,  1754." 

"  Abstract  of  the  act  and  recommendation  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  met  at  Edinburgh,  May  31,  1754,  for  a 
collection  for  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

"The  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  on  the  31st 
day  of  May,  1754,  having  had  presented  to  them  by  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Gilbert  Tennant,  and  Samuel  Davies,  two  petitions,  the  one  from  the 
Synod  of  New  York,  and  the  other  from  the  Trustees  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  of  the  same  import  with  the  preceding  papers ;  and 
having  also  laid  before  them  certificates  and  recommendations  from 
persons  of  honour  and  credit,  and  being  sensible  that  the  encouraging 
of  the  said  College  is  of  great  imprn-tance  to  the  interests  of  religion 
and  learning,  and  to  the  support  and  further  advancement  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  in  those  parts  of  the  world,  appoint  a  collection  to  be 
made  at  the  church  doors  of  all  the  parishes  through  Scotland,  upon 
any  Lord's  day  betwixt  the  first  day  of  January  next,  the  particular 
day  to  be  fixed  by  the  several  Presbyteries,  as  they  find  to  be  most 
convenient  for  the  parishes  in  their  bounds ;  and  the  money  collected 
within  the  bounds  of  the  Synods  of  Glasgow  and  Ayr,  and  of  Argyle, 
to  be  paid  into  Bailie  Archibald  Ingram,  merchant  in  Glasgow,  and 
that  collected  within  the  other  bounds  of  the  other  Synods  in  Scotland, 
to  be  paid  into  Mr.  William  Hogg  &  Son,  merchants  in  Edinburgh; 
and  the  General  Assembly  earnestly  recommends  it  to  all,  to  contribute, 
according  to  their  ability,  to  this  useful  and  charitable  design;  and 


OF    FRANCE.  395 

Church  of  Scotland  into  no  small  reputation  with  the  Dissent- 
ing Churches  of  England,  and  with  the  Foreign  Churches.* 

ordains  their  act  and  recommendation  to  be  read  from  the  pulpit  tlie 
Sabbath  immediately  preceding  the  day  that  shall  be  appointed  for  the 
collection,  and  that  ministers  enforce  it  with  suitable  exhortations." 

There  is  subjoined  to  the  Assembly's  act  and  recommendation,  a 
letter  directed  to  their  Moderator,  from  the  "  Society  in  Scotland  for 
Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,"  signed  by  the  most  Honourable 
the  Marquis  of  Lothian,  their  President,  the  tenor  whereof  follows: — 

"  Very  Reverend  Sir, — The  '  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating 
Christian  Knowledge,'  take  this  opportunity  to  signify  the  genuine 
pleasure  it  gave  them  to  observe  with  what  alacrity  tlie  venerable 
Assembly  countenanced  a  general  collection  through  Scotland,  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  lately  erected  College  at  New  Jersey.  We 
had,  some  time  ago,  the  state  of  that  College  under  consideration, 
and,  for  promoting  its  interest,  gave  a  sum  for  purchasing  books  for 
the  use  of  its  library.  It  would  give  great  satisfaction  to  this  Society 
if  the  Assembly  would  be  pleased  to  authorize  this  letter  to  be  annex- 
ed to  their  act,  and  appoint  it  to  be  read  along  with  it,  that  it  may  be 
known  to  the  whole  Church  how  much  the  Society  is  persuaded  that 
the  encouragement  of  that  newly  erected  College  will  tend  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  learning  and  the  advancement  of  religion  in  that  distant 
part  of  his  Majesty's  dominions.  This,  in  name  and  by  appointment 
of  the  general  meeting  of  the  said  Society,  is  subscribed  by,  very 
Reverend  Sir,  your  most  obedient  humble  servai\t,  Lothian. 

"  Edinburgh,  May  30,  1754." 

It  may  be  mentioned,  that  the  sum  raised  in  Scotland,  in  answer 
to  the  appeal,  was  not  less  than  £2529  Sterling, — a  very  large  sum 
for  so  poor  a  country,  engaged  in  so  many  home  undertakings;  at 
the  same  time  proving,  however,  the  strength  of  her  remaining  piety. 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  which  was  stated  before  the  Synod  of  Glas- 
gow, by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cook  of  Quebec,  at  present  (October,  1840,) 
with  the  Rev.  Mr,  Rentoul,  a  deputation  from  Canada,  for  raising 
funds  to  build  and  endow  a  College,  in  connection  with  the  Church 
of  Scotland  at  Kingston,  in  Upper  Canada,  that  the  above  sum  raised 
in  Scotland,  still  exists  ;  that  it  forms  a  Scottish  foundation ;  and  that, 
a  few  years  ago,  an  Indian  chief  was  educated  on  it  for  the  Christian 
ministry,  is  now  an  ordained  Presbyterian  minister,  and  has  been  the 
means  already  of  the  hopeful  conversion  of  not  less  than  thirty  of  his 
tribe  to  the  faith  and  obedience  of  the  Gospel.  How  blessed  is  the 
perpetuity  of  spiritual  good!  The  liberality  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land nearly  a  century  ago,  is  bearing  fruit  on  a  distant  Continent  at 
the  present  day.  What  an  encouragement  to  generous  zeal  in  rear- 
ing the  new  Canadian  College,  where  Evangelical  and  Presbyterian 
principles  are  to  be  established,  and,  we  trust,  perpetuated  to  the  latest 
generations! 

*  "  An  act  and  recommendation  of  the  General  Assembly,  for  a 
collection  for  the  Reformed  Church  of  Breslaw  in  Silesia,  and  su)>port- 
ing  a  school  there,  dated  Edinburgh,  May  19,  1750. 

"  There  was  presented  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of 


396 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


It  would  weary  the  reader  to  refer  to  the  efforts  of  the  Church 
Courts  in  behalf  of  the  extension  of  churches  and  education 

Scotland,  by  Mr.  Christian  Lewis  Finne,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Bres- 
law,  a  letter  from  the  Reformed  Church  at  Breslaw,  the  capital  of 
Silesia,  with  proper  credentials,  representing  that  after  having  for 
seventy  years  been  deprived  of  the  exercise  of  their  religion,  and  in  a 
state  of  persecution,  they  are  now  happily  restored  to  their  ancient 
privileges  by  the  king  of  Prussia,  their  sovereign,  who  has  given  them 
ground  for  building  a  church  and  school,  which  will  prove  comforta- 
ble to  them,  atid  useful  for  supporting  the  Reformed  religion  in  that 
and  the  neighbouring  countries;  and  though  the  king  of  Prussia  has 
given  leave  to  make  a  collection  in  the  churches  of  his  own  territories 
for  building  and  endowing  a  church  and  school,  yet  that  collection 
has  proved  deficient,  and  will  not  answer  the  said  good  purposes ;  and 
that  the  said  pious  and  useful  work  cannot  be  carried  to  perfection 
without  the  assistance  of  other  Protestant  Churches ;  and  therefore 
humbly  supplicating  such  relief  as  to  the  Assembly  shall  seem  meet 
for  the  service  of  a  Church  which  has  kept  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints,  steadfast  and  pure,  amidst  a  long  continued  series  of  afflic- 
tion and  persecution.  A  Church  !  which  is  surrounded  with  Popery, 
and  rears  up  its  head  as  a  bulwark  against  the  errors  of  that  idola- 
trous religion.  A  Church !  which  is  situate  in  the  capital  of  an  ex- 
tensive country,  a  large  trading  city,  and  therefore,  by  the  blessing 
of  God,  may  be  of  important  service  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  to 
give  a  check  to  Popery,  and  to  bring  many  souls  out  of  darkness  to 
the  light  of  the  Gospel.  A  Church!  which,  if  once  well  settled,  is 
likely  to  be  of  great  use  to  the  neighbouring  Protestants  in  Hungary, 
Poland,  and  Bohemia,  who  are  still  groaning  under  the  yoke  of  Po- 
pish bondage,  as  it  may  serve  for  a  seminary  and  city  of  refuge  and 
defence,  of  which  things  there  have  been  already  seen  some  first-fruits, 
for  that  not  only  several  Popish  families,  and  amongst  them  the  family 
of  Count  D'Arco,  have  been  converted  to  the  Reformed  religion,  but 
also  above  five  thousand  Hussite  Protestants  have  come  over  to  them 
from  Bohemia,  and  settled  in  Silesia,  whose  children  may  be  instruct- 
ed in  the  school  at  Breslaw,  taught  the  principles  of  religion,  and  be 
brought  up  to  trades,  which  will  be  a  great  addition  and  strength  to 
the  Protestant  interest. 

"  The  General  Assembly  having  considered  what  is  above  repre- 
sented,  from  a  charitable  and  compassionate  regard  to  their  distressed 
brethren,  and  a  pious  zeal  to  support  the  Reformed  interest  abroad, 
did,  and  hereby  do  recommend  a  general  collection  to  be  made  at  the 
doors  of  all  the  parish  churches  in  Scotland  for  the  said  good  purposes, 
upon  the  third  Lord's  day  of  November  next;  and  appoints  the  money 
so  collected,  to  be  paid  to  James  Mansfield,  merchant,  and  late  Bailie 
of  Edinburgh,  or  William  Hogg,  also  merchant  there;  and  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  earnestly  recommend  to  all  charitable  and  well  disposed 
persons  to  contribute  for  so  good  a  work,  and  appoint  that  this  act  be 
read  from  the  pulpits  of  the  several  churches,  the  Lord's  day  imme- 
diately preceding  the  above  day  hereby  fixed  for  making  the  foresaid 
collection."  Tliis  application  obtained  a  contribution  of  ^1100  ster- 
linjr. 


OF    FRANCE.  397 

at  home.  If  the  Church  were  so  zealous  as  to  bethink  her  of 
foreign  Christians,  she  was  not  likely  to  neglect  her  own  peo- 
ple, whether  in  the  Highlands,  or  Islands,  or  Lowlands.  Suf- 
fice it  to  say,  that  all  the  ground  which  was  formerly  acquired 
she  retained,  and  that  in  addition,  she  made  great  advances  in 
the  same  department  of  labour.  Who  that  has  even  partially 
read  the  Records  of  the  General  Assembly,  can  have  forgot- 
ten the  erections  of  Enzie  and  Norrieston,  and  the  three  new 
erections  of  the  district  of  Stralhnaver,  and  the  new  churches 
of  Skye  and  Shetland,  and  the  labours  which  were  made  to 
provide  ministers  with  suitable  salaries.  The  bishops'  rents, 
and  the  public  funds  of  tlie  Church,  which  at  this  time  do 
not  appear  to  have  exceeded  ^6500,  and  the  liberality  of  lead- 
ing families  and  individuals,  as  well  as  public  collections, 
seem  all  to  have  been  put  into  requisition  for  the  purpose; 
and,  in  the  meantime,  Gaelic  probationers,  and  schools,  and 
schoolmasters,  and  libraries,  are  employed  for  the  furllierance 
of  the  Christian  instruction  of  the  ignorant  and  destitute. 
The  Society  in  Scotland  contrived  to  proceed  from  twenty- 
live  to  one  hundred  and  twelve  schools,  and  from  an  income 
of  i^eOOO  to  an  income  of  ^16,000,  in  1736.  No  feasible 
plan  is  left  idle;  nay,  the  Popish  rebellion  of  1715  seems  to 
have  added  fresh  zeal  to  the  liberality  and  labours  of  the 
Church.  She  has  a  salutary  fear  of  Popery  before  her,  and 
can  see  no  way  of  disarming  its  dangers  but  by  the  spread 
of  the  parochial  system,  w^iih  all  its  kindred  institutions  of 
good.  And  this  Christian  diligence  and  perseverance  are 
the  more  creditable,  when  it  is  remembered  that  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  the  Episcopalian  Jacobites  were  ever  intruding 
into  parish  churches,  and  disturbing  the  ministers,  under  the 
name  of  "  Rabblers."  There  can  be  little  doubt  that,  with 
God's  blessing  on  the  means  employed,  there  was  not  mere- 
ly an  extension  of  the  outward  apparatus  of  the  Church,  but 
spiritual  fruit.  In  the  Wodrow  MSS.  for  1714,  we  are  in- 
formed that  communions  this  year  were  more  than  usually- 
sweet;  that  ministers  were  much  countenanced,  and  that  a 
spirit  of  prayer  was  poured  out  on  many  of  the  young.  Of 
1729  it  is  said,  that  communions  were  particularly  pleasant; 
that  there  was  a  greater  number  than  usual  of  young  com- 
municants ;  that  at  Strathblane  there  were  more  than  two 
hundred  additional  from  that  parish  and  neighbourhood. 
Next  year,  again,  it  is  related  that  there  were  one  thousand 
and  forty  communicants  at  Eastwood,  the  parish  of  which 
the  historian  was  minister,  and  that  the  increase  of  commu- 


398 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


nicants  was  general.  At  the  same  period  he  records,  that  in 
the  north,  in  Sutherlandshire,  there  were  vast  confluences  of 
people  to  the  dispensation  of  the  Lord's  Supper;  that  many 
came  from  a  distance  of  fifty  miles ;  that  the  great  body  of 
the  religious  people  waited  on  the  ordinance;  and  that  mul- 
titudes assembled  even  when  there  was  a  vacancy  in  the 
parish. 

Much  good,  then,  was  still  in  active  operation  in  the 
Church  of  Scotland — she  had  a  large  share  of  spiritual  life; 
but,  alas  !  good  is  short  lived!  it  cannot  be  disguised  that  the 
symptoms  of  religious  decline  were  beginning  to  appear.  I 
have  already  referred  to  the  slow  and  insidious,  but  mischie- 
vous operation  of  the  restored  Lay  Patronage  Act  of  1711. 
Men  were  afraid  and  unwilling  to  enforce  it  at  first,  but  it 
gradually  moved  forward,  and  its  progress  was  always  from 
bad  to  worse.  This,  however,  was  rather  an  act  of  violence 
from  without,  than  decay  from  within ;  the  latter,  hov\-ever, 
daily  became  more  visible.  I  do  not  refer  to  the  undue  de- 
ference to  civil  authority  in  matters  spiritual  which  has  been 
charged  upon  the  Revolution  Church.  The  General  Assem- 
bly of  that  day  may  have  yielded *to  civil  power  in  a  way 
which  the  General  Assembly  of  the  present  day  would  have 
respectfully  declined.  I  refer  rather  to  doctrine.  It  is  to  be 
feared  that  Simson,  the  Professor  of  Divinit)^  in  Glasgow, 
was  seriously  unsound  in  the  faith;  and,  from  the  influential 
station  which  he  occupied,  tended  to  make  others,  especially 
young  men,  unsound.  I  have  heard  intelligent  Irish  Pres- 
byterian ministers  trace  the  Arianism  which  for  many  years 
infected  and  paralysed  their  Church,  to  the  teaching  of  Sim- 
son.  The  undue  leniency,  again,  with  which  he  was  treated 
by  the  Church  courts,  from  1714  down  to  tlie  date — fifteen 
years  afterwards — in  which  he  was  deprived  of  his  profes- 
sorship, indicates  that  the  Church  was  losing  tlie  high  and 
stern  tone  of  discipline  for  which  she  had  been  distinguish- 
ed. At  the  same  time  it  is  scarcely  fair  to  condemn  a  whole 
Church  for  the  proceedings  of  one  of  her  judicatories,  es- 
pecially in  a  case  where,  as  often  happens,  with  unprinci- 
pled heretics,  the  heresy  is  disowned.  It  is  plain  from  the 
testimony  of  Wodrow,  who  lived  during  that  period,  and 
took  a  part  in  the  business  of  Church  courts,  that  the  unsound 
sentiments  of  Simson  were  almost  universally  condemned. 
In  1729  and  1730,  after  he  had  been  set  aside,  Presb}  teries, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  to 
depose  him  from  the  office  of  the  ministry ;  they  instructed 


OF    FRANCE.  399 

their  commissioners  to  that  effect,  and  elders  refused  to  serve 
at  the  communion  where  ministers  were  supposed  to  liave  a 
leaning  towards  his  being  reponed.  It  is  right,  too,  to  state 
that  slow  and  gentle  as  the  proceedings  of  the  Church 
against  him  may  seem  to  have  been,  the  very  act  which  sus- 
pended him  contained  a  clear  and  strong  testimony  to  the 
supreme  Divinity  of  our  blessed  Lord.  It  is  contained  in 
these  words: — "  That  in  all  the  judicatories  of  this  Church 
which  have  had  this  process  under  their  consideration,  there 
hath  not  appeared  the  least  difference  of  sentiment,  but  on 
the  contrary,  there  hath  been  the  most  perfect  and  unanimous 
agreement  among  them  as  to  the  doctrine  of  the  glorious 
Trinity,  and  the  proper  supreme  Deity  of  our  Lord  and  Sa- 
viour Jesus  Christ,  according  as  the  same  is  revealed  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  contained  in  our  Confession  and  Cate- 
chisms." With  all  this,  the  case  of  Simson  is  indicative  of 
a  Church  not  advancing,  and  therefore  declining,  and  the 
condemnation  of  a  work  entitled  the  "  Marrow  of  Modern 
Divinity,"  in  1720,  which  contains,  with  some  incorrect 
statements,  much  that  is  excellent  and  good,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  dismissal,  without  censure,  of  Professor 
Campbell  of  St.  Andrews,  who  had  given  utterance  to  senti- 
ments decidedly  and  seriously  erroneous ;  these  things  all 
proclaim  thai  peaceful  as  the  days  of  the  Church  now  were, 
there  was  a  worm  in  the  bud — that  her  glory  was  tarnishing. 
About  1730  there  was  a  marked  change  in  the  style  of 
preaching,  particularly  of  the  young  men  who  were  selected 
to  preach  before  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  strong  complaints  by  the  older  and  graver  ministers,  that 
that  change  was  much  for  the  worse.  On  one  occasion  of 
this  kind,  an  aged  and  venerable  minister  moved  that  notice 
should  be  taken  of  those  sermons  on  morality,  in  which 
there  is  nothing  of  Christ  or  the  Gospel,  and  that  the  Assem- 
bly should  provide  against  innovations  in  preaching.  Of  one 
of  the  preachers  at  this  time  it  is  said,  that  his  discourse  was 
upon  charity,  and  was  chiefly  borrowed  from  Addison's 
"  Spectator."  The  choice  of  such  preachers  for  such  im- 
portant and  honourable  occasions,  was  certainly  no  auspi- 
cious token  of  the  spirit  of  many  of  the  leading  men  in  the 
Church,  and  was  the  more  melancholy,  when  it  is  consider- 
ed that  down  to  this  time  the  Church  of  Scotland  had  been 
always  pure  in  her  doctrine.  The  intelligent  Christian  reader 
will  not  wonder  to  learn,  that  when  error  appeared,  infidel- 
ity began  to  lift  up  her  head.   The  moment  that  the  peculiar 


400  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

doctrines  of  Revelation  are  denied  or  obscured,  the  best  part 
of  the  internal  evidences  of  Christianity  is  destroyed,  and 
unbehef  acquires  the  sway.  In  1729,  there  are  complaints 
of  the  growth  of  loose  and  corrupt  principles  among  young 
men — the  sons  of  merchants  in  Glasgow.  Absence  from 
diets  of  catechising,  and  attendance  on  clubs  where  improper 
books  were  read,  are  assigned  as  the  probable  causes.  In 
the  same  year,  Wodrow  speaks  of  several  young  men,  be- 
longing to  the  same  class  in  society,  meeting  in  a  tavern  on 
the  Lord's  day,  in  the  town  of  Ayr,  where  they  read  Wool- 
ston's  infidel  book,  and  ridiculed  all  religion,  often,  inten- 
tionally, meeting  the  congregations  returning  from  church,  as 
if  to  pour  contempt  upon  their  v/orship.  Though  this  was 
considered  going  a  fearful  length  in  sin,  yet  no  notice  was 
taken  of  ii  by  the  Church  courts  of  the  bounds.  Two  years 
after,  the  infidel  principles  of  Tindal,  another  infidel  writer, 
are  said  to  make  much  progress  among  the  gentry.  The 
Church  became  so  far  alarmed,  that  the  Synods  of  Fife, 
Stirling,  Angus,  Moray,  and  several  Presbyteries,  sent  in  a 
representation  on  the  subject  to  the  General  Assembly,  which 
gave  rise  to  an  address  from  the  Supreme  Court  against 
error  and  infidelity.  The  fact,  however,  that  Boston,  the 
Erskines,  and  Webster,  never,  in  their  sermons,  almost 
allude  to  speculative  infidelity,  shows  that  it  was  quite  un- 
known among  the  great  body  of  the  people.  They  were 
strictly  evangelical.  How  diflerent  the  state  of  things  in 
1792! 

The  unfavourable  change  referred  to  was  not  peculiar  to 
Scotland.  It  would  have  been  well  if  it  had;  but  it  seems 
to  have  affected  all  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation,  and 
much   about   the   same  period.*     Nay,  it  reached   to  the 

*  Faithful  ministers  in  Germany  and  in  England  seem  to  have  fore- 
seen the  dark  days  Vv^hich  were  coming,  and  to  have  stirred  them- 
selves  up  to  zeal,  which  was  useful  for  the  time,  and  gave  promise  of 
good  for  the  future,  but  w^hich  was  overborne  by  the  deadening  in- 
fluence which  was  already  in  operation,  till  it  became  extinguished. 
Of  these,  the  leading  men,  derided  by  the  name  of  Pietists  or  Metho- 
dists, were  Dr.  Spener,  a  native  of  France,  and  Dr.  Franck,  a  Ger- 
man. The  towns  of  Frankfort,  Dresden,  Berlin,  Leipsic,  and  Halle, 
&c.,  were  the  chief  scenes  of  their  labours;  and,  through  the  medium 
of  lectures  to  students  attending  universities,  and  meetings  for  con- 
ference and  prayer,  and  the  spread  of  works  on  spiritual  Christianity, 
they,  aided  by  not  a  few  coadjutors  of  less  name,  were  honoured  to 
awaken  a  considerable  revival  of  true  religion  among  the  Reformed 
Churches  of  Germany — Churches  which,  towards  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  were  fast  sinking  into  spiritual  death.     An  in- 


OF    FRANCE. 


401 


churches  of  America.  In  England  it  appeared  much  earlier 
than  in  Scotland.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century  there  are  questions  regarding  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  which  are, not  only  taken  up  by  the  Convocation  of 
the  English  Church,  but  find  their  way  to  Parliament.  This 
indicated  that  unsound  doctrine  was  spreading,  otherwise 

terestingf  account  of  their  leading-  proceeding's  is  to  be  found  in  a 
little  volume,  entitled  "Pietas  Hallensis;  or,  an  Abstract  of  the  mar- 
vellous  footsteps  of  Divine  Providence,  in  the  building  of  a  very  large 
Hospital,  or  rather  a  spacious  College,  for  charitable  and  excellent  uses ; 
and  in  the  maintaining  many  orphans,  and  other  poor  people  therein, 
at  Giaucha,  near  Halle,  in  the  dominion  of  the  King  of  Prussia.  By 
the  Rev.  Augustus  Franck;  with  a  Preface  by  Dr.  Woodward,  Lon- 
don,  1707."  Hundreds  of  students  of  theology  flocked  to  the  Univer- 
sity of  Leipsic,  to  listen  to  the  warm-hearted  expositions  of  the  lead- 
ing ministers  in  this  revival.  The  opposition  which,  in  many  quar- 
ters, was  provoked  against  it,  proclaims  the  progress  to  which  the 
work  attained.  Not  less  than  sixty-three  distinct  and  important  re- 
sults are  enumerated  among  its  fruits.  The  hospital,  school,  and 
college,  seem  to  have  been  maintained  almost  exclusively  by  prayer. 
Their  history  furnishes  many  eminent  proofs  of  the  answers  which 
God  vouchsafes  to  his  people.  Bochim,  in  his  "  Short  Account  of 
Pietism,"  about  the  year  1700,  after  speaking  of  the  University  of 
Halle,  where  there  were  three  thousand  students,  many  of  them  at- 
tracted by  Franck,  and  the  hostility  with  which  he  was  assailed,  adds, 
"  All  these  clouds  now  begin  to  scatter,  and  by  the  uninterrupted  en- 
deavours of  the  Pietists  who  have  been  engaged  now  almost  twenty 
years  with  carrying  on  a  practical  reformation,  many  are  fully  con- 
vinced of  their  soundness,  both  in  life  and  doctrine,  and  are  now  glad 
to  see  their  children  well  instructed  and  educated  by  these  teachers, 
whom  the  world  calls  Pietists.  However,  they  have  not  been  con- 
fined to  the  King  of  Prussia's  dominions,  but  have  spread  all  this 
while  among  the  Lutheran  Churches,  so  that  there  has  been  a  stirring 
both  in  Denmark  and  Sweden,  tending  to  a  more  practical  reforma- 
tion," &LC.  But  interesting  and  effective  as  these  labours  were,  they 
appear  to  have  lasted  but  for  a  season.  Ere  long  the  reign  of  de- 
generacy  resumed  its  sway.  Similar  was  the  experience  in  England 
about  the  same,  or  rather  at  a  somewhat  later  period.  Good  men  felt 
that  the  piety  of  the  early  days  of  the  Reformation  had  undergone  a 
sad  decline,  and  that,  with  irreligion,  vice  was  increasing;  they  felt 
also  that  it  was  their  duty  to  attempt  a  decided  revival  of  religion, 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  From  "A  Letter"  regarding  the  origin  of 
the  "  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,"  it  appears  that 
"about  the  year  1680  a  considerable  number  of  pious  persons  of  the 
Church  of  England  met  frequently  together  to  pray,  sing  psalms,  and 
read  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  to  reprove,  exhort,  and  edify  one 
another,  by  their  religious  conferences;  and  their  number  hath  since 
increased  (1724)  to  about  forty  societies  in  and  about  London  and 
Westminister.  This  example  hath  been  followed  by  several  devout 
persons  in  divers  other  parts  of  this  nation;  as  also  in  Ireland,  where 

26 


402 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


the  Church  and  the  State  would  not  have  felt  themselves 
called  upon  to  interfere  as  they  did.  Salmon,  in  his  "  Chro- 
nological Historian,"  states,  that  in  1721,  hell-fire  clubs 
abounded;  that  one  of  them  had  forty  members,  of  whom 
sixteen  were  ladies;  that  they  ridiculed  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  and  assumed  the  names  of  the  patriarchs  and  pro- 
several  of  the  like  societies  are  encouraged  by  the  bishops  and  inferior 
clergy."  Out  of  these  conferences,  and  at  no  great  intervals  of  time 
a  variety  of  schemes  of  Christian  usefulness  arose — such  as  the  "So- 
ciety for  the  Reformation  of  Manners,"  to  check  gross  evils  at  home — 
the  improvement  of  the  provision  for  poor  ministers  of  the  English 
Church — the  establishment  of  parochial  libraries  of  suitable  religious 
books — a  fund  for  the  relief  of  ministers'  widows  and  orphans — the 
"Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,"  and  the  "So- 
ciety for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  at  Home,"— the  last  work- 
ing through  the  medium  of  planting  charity  schools,  the  distribution 
of  Bibles  and  other  books,  and  the  setting  up  of  lending  libraries.  In 
Scotland  there  was  a  similar  spirit  of  revival.  Wodrow,  speaking  of 
Dundas  of  Philipstone,  who  abridged  the  Acts  of  Assembly,  bears 
testimony  to  his  high  Christian  character  ;  and  adds,  that  he  was  one 
of  a  society  of  laymen,  chiefly  lawyers,  eight  or  ten  in  number,  who 
formed  themselves  into  an  association  for  prayer  and  conference,  in 
Edinburgh,  in  1697,  and  that  their  labours  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
"Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Manners."  I  need  not  record  the 
result  of  these  prayerful  exertions :  they  were  by  no  means  incon- 
siderable. In  the  year  1724,  the  "  English  Society  for  the  Reformation 
of  Manners,"  successfully  prosecuted  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
twenty -three  violations  of  the  law  regarding  the  Sabbath,  intemper- 
ance, blasphemy,  &c.;  and  in  thirty,  three  years  not  less  than  eighty- 
nine  thousand  persons,  while  they  circulated  four  hundred  thousand 
books  of  a  moral  and  religious  character.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  a 
shoot  of  the  same  society,  under  the  name  of  the  "Society  for  the 
Suppression  of  Vice,"  still  exists.  So  recently  as  last  year,  the  Direc- 
tors gave  the  following  account  of  themselves — "  For  putting  down 
the  offences  against  which  it  is  directed,  the  Society  has  found  it 
necessary  since  its  commencement,  to  institute  not  less  than  ninety- 
four  prosecutions,  of  which  four  only  have  failed.  In  many  instances 
the  whole  stock  in  trade  of  these  offenders  has  been  seized,  or  deliver- 
ed up  to  the  Society  for  destruction.  Thus,  within  the  last  three 
years  alone,  the  Society  has  been  instrumental  in  withdrawing  from 
circulation  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine  infidel  and 
blasphemous  publications,  exclusive  of  a  large  quantity  in  sheets; 
eleven  hundred  and  eighty -two  obscene  books  and  pamphlets,  besides 
a  large  quantity  in  sheets,  ten  thousand,  four  hundred  and  ninty-three 
prints  and  pictures,  both  English  and  foreign  of  the  most  infamous 
description;  besides  a  great  number  of  obscene  cards,  toys  and  snufF- 
boxcF,  and  sixteen  copper-plates  melted  down  under  the  inspection  of 
the  Society."  With  regard  to  the  other  schemes,  in  1724,  there  were 
sixty  parochial  libraries,  distributed  over  the  poorer  parishes  of  Eng- 
land and  Wales,  and  twenty  were  about  to  be   sent  abroad.     They 


OF    FRANCE. 


403 


phets,  and  made  mirth  of  them.  As  the  century  moved 
forward,  it  is  well  known  how  much  cold  moral  preaching, 
positive  error,  and  flagrant  infidelity,  prevailed.  The  great- 
est amount  of  avowed  and  speculative  unbelief,  of  regulai* 
attacks  upon  Christianity  in  books,  appeared  in  this  period, 
and  yet  the  Church  was  in  the  least  favourable  circumstances 
for  meeting  them.  She  herself,  by  her  unfaithfulness  and 
error,  had,  in  a  great  measure,  created  the  infidelity,  and  she 
neither  possessed  nor  preached  to  the  extent  which  she 
ought,  that  pure  and  free  gospel  salvation  which  is  the  best 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and  the  best  answer  to 
infidels.  Accordingly,  the  works  on  the  Evidences  of  this 
age,  however  able  and  learned,  on  the  external  and  some 
parts  of  the  internal  argument,  are  very  defective  and  ineffi- 
cient as  compared  with  the  more  thoroughly  evangelical 
works  on  the  Evidences  of  more  modern  times.  One,  in 
reading  them,  is  often  struck  with  the  low  ground  which  is 
taken  up  by  the  advocate  of  Christianity,  and  the  compara- 
tively feeble  defence  which  he  is  able  to  make  for  her.  This 
holds  true  of  books  which,  in  the  absence  of  better,  have 
been  much  praised.  The  reason  is  to  be  sought,  not  in  any 
want  of  talent  or  learning,  on  the  part  of  the  writers,  but  in 

generally  cost  from  £30  to  £60  a  piece.  In  London  and  the  neigh- 
bourhood one  hundred  and  thirty-three  schools  were  opened,  which 
taught  from  five  to  six  thousand  children,  and  the  Society  apprenticed 
out  as  many  more.  Under  the  same  management  there  were  twelve 
hundred  schools  scattered  through  the  English  counties,  educating 
twenty-two  thousand  children  gratis,  and  often  clothing  and  feeding 
them.  In  Ireland,  again,  the  same  Society  had  one  hundred  and  sixty 
schools,  and  three  thousand  children.  In  the  reports  and  proceedings, 
there  are  many  suggestions  which  breathe  the  deepest  piety,  and 
most  enlightened  regard  for  the  best  interests  of  man.  The  Mission- 
ary Society  which  sprung  up  at  the  same  time  still  exists,  and  now 
in  a  very  extended  form.  Sixty  years  from  its  foundation  it  had 
nearly  one  hundred  missionaries  and  schoolmasters  supported  at  an 
annual  expense  of  £5000,  and  labouring  chiefly  in  the  United  States 
of  America.  But  in  spite  of  all  these  favourable  symptoms,  there  was 
deep  decline.  About  the  middle,  and  toward  the  end  of  the  century, 
the  schemes  were  greatly  paralysed.  Not  a  few  even  of  the  Mission- 
aries abroad  partook  of  the  prevailing  character  of  the  Church  at 
home.  The  infusion  of  new  life  and  power  into  the  old  Society  is  a 
comparatively  recent  event.  The  interesting  point  to  notice  is,  that 
their  institution  seems  to  have  been  called  forth  by  the  felt  degene- 
racy which  had  begun,  and  was  intended  to  arrest  it,  and  revive  the 
power  of  true  religion.  How  profound  the  lethargy  which  neutralized 
the  force  of  so  many  plans  of  usefulness,  whose  successful  operations 
had  been  already  ascertained'' 


404  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

the  cold  and  fallen  state  of  Christianity  and  the  Church  as  a 
whole,  at  the  period  in  which  they  wrote. 

The  decline  was  not  in  England  confined  to  the  Estab- 
lished Church:  it  reached  to  the  Protestant  Dissenters.  So 
early  as  1723,  their  debates  upon  Arianism,  and  the  leaning 
of  many  of  their  young  ministers  to  this  heresy;  and  their 
opposition  to  subscriptions  to  Confessions  of  Faith,  were  all 
symptomatic  of  an  unfavourable  change,  and  seriously  aflfect- 
ed  their  character  and  reputation  with  the  more  serious  part 
of  the  community  ;  so  much  so,  that  not  a  few,  seeing  now 
no  marked  line  of  distinction  between  them  and  the  Estab- 
lished Church,  ere  long  conformed  to  the  latter.  Six  years 
afterwards  there  was  growing  decay.  The  old  societies 
among  the  Nonconformist  ministers,  for  prayer  and  confer- 
ence, and  mutual  improvement,  were  in  a  great  measure 
broken  up.  In  the  meantime,  with  the  loss  of  piety,  the 
temporal  provision  of  the  ministers  suffered.  Wodrovv  states, 
on  the  authority  of  Mr.  VVishart,  a  Scottish  minister  in  Lon- 
don, that  even  Dr.  Calamy's  salary  was  much  impaired,  and 
all  the  others  in  proportion.  On  another  authority,  he  relates, 
that  several  of  the  ministers  had  already  become  Arian,  and 
that  many  more  would  have  done  so,  had  they  not  been 
afraid  of  losing  their  people,  who  were  still  sound.  Like 
true  Jesuits,  they  concealed  their  false  principles.  Does  this 
not  show  that  it  is  not  the  people  who  are  so  apt  to  fall  into 
heresy  as  the  ministry,  and  that  tlierefore,  at  least,  a  popular 
control  in  the  appointment  of  ministers  is  safer  in  their 
hands  than  in  those  of  Church  courts.  It  is,  however,  to  be 
remembered,  that  among  the  Dissenters  in  England  there 
was  really  nothing  which  could  be  called  Church  courts. 
Though  nominally  Presbyterian,  there  was  no  organization 
of  Presbytery  ;  hence  there  was  no  opportunity  for  deposing 
unsound  ministers,  and  so  preserving  the  purity  of  the 
Church.  The  spread  of  Arianism  among  the  Dissenters 
was  very  much  facilitated  by  the  nature  of  their  Church 
government,  or  rather  their  want  of  Church  rule.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  add,  that  the  Protestant  Dissenters  in 
Ireland  were  at  the  same  period  much  the  same  in  character 
w^ith  their  brethren  in  England.  Mr.  Warner,  an  excellent 
minister  in  the  west  of  Scotland,  after  a  visit  to  Dublin,  in 
1730,  speaks  of  the  very  low  state  of  religion  among  the 
Dissenters — "  of  the  terrible  degree  of  decay  in  serious  god- 
liness,"— that  where  divided  they  were  weakened  and  where 
united  they  were  cold.     And  another  testifies  as  to  the  north, 


OF    FRANCE. 


405 


that  the  nonsubscribing,  or  unsound  party,  though  by  that 
time  qniet,  were  much  deserted  by  their  people. 

It  would  enlarge  this  chapter  to  an  undue  length  to  refer 
to  the  Church  of  Geneva.  It  might  otherwise  be  shown, 
that  at  the  same  period  there  was  a  marked  declension  in  the 
Church  of  Switzerland.  The  influence  of  the  younger  Tur- 
retine,  who  was  headstrong  and  opinionative,  was  very  dis- 
astrous. By  1730,  the  signing  of  a  Confession  of  Faith  was 
no  longer  required.  This  at  that  season  was  a  plain  proof 
of  unsound  doctrine.  Twenty  years  afterwards  D'Alembert 
and  Voltaire — the  former  in  the  article  Geneva,  in  the  "  En- 
cyclopaedia"—and  the  latter  in  his  "  Letters,"  not  only  bear 
testimony  to,  but  rejoice  in,  the  change  from  evangehcal  Cal- 
vinism to  Arianism  and  Socinianism,  and  mercilessly  expose 
the  apostate  ministers  who,  stung  by  the  article  in  the  "  En- 
cyclopaedia," attempted  to  conceal  their  shame  from  their 
people  and  the  world.  The  moral  character  of  Geneva  sunk 
with  its  religious  character.  When  it  got  rid  of  Calvinism, 
it  got  rid  of  moral  propriety,  and  in  various  respects  became 
like  one  of  the  large  towns  of  popish  and  infidel  France.* 

In  addition  to  this  passing  notice,  it  may  be  mentioned, 
that  a  strong  positive  proof  of  declension  appeared  in  1777, 

*  The  "Christian  Observer"  for  1833  gives  the  following  just  ac- 
count of  the  Swiss  Church  :— "  This  Church,  reformed  in  doctrine, 
and  Presbyterian  in  discipline,  has  seen  its  doctrine  become  adulte- 
rated since  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  practical 
Christianity  lost  its  strength,  as  was  natural,  at  the  same  time  that 
doctrine  became  corrupt.  In  1724,  the  pious  Benedict  Pictet  died. 
From  that  moment  the  Company  or  Assembly  of  Pastors,  by  succes- 
sive alterations  in  the  editions  of  the  Liturgy  and  Catechism,  com- 
menced  this  unhappy  degradation  of  the  faith.  The  decline  from 
truth  continued  to  increase  during  this  century  of  false  philosophy, 
till  at  last,  on  the  14th  September,  1818,  the  Assembly  of  Pastors  de- 
clared, in  an  official  letter,  that  for  a  long  period  four  important  doc- 
trines had  not  existed  in  the  Catechism.  These  were,  the  Trinity, 
the  Divinity  of  Christ,  the  original  corruption  of  human  nature,  sal- 
vation by  grace,  and  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Nor  was  there 
merely  a  prohibition  to  inculcate  these  doctrines  on  the  minds  of 
young  persons,  but  Arianism  was  publicly  taught  to  young  children, 
and  preached  to  adults.  At  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  at  the 
commencement  of  the  present,  the  Professor  of  Divinity  lectured  on 
nothing  more  than  natural  theology;  the  essential  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity were  no  longer  subjects  of  teaching  or  inquiry." 

Again,  "  In  the  Church  of  Geneva  ministers  are  elected,  not  by 
their  congregations,  but  by  the  Assembly  of  Pastors.  The  leaders  of 
this  body  now  resolved  no  longer  to  choose  orthodox  ministers,  but 
Arians  only.     Hence  the  young  ministers  who  had  been  enlightened 


406  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

when  Professor  Vinet  did  not  forbid,  but  allowed,  exercises 
of  an  Arian  character  to  be  maintained  in  his  presence  by 
the  students  of  the  college.  Rousseau,  the  celebrated  infidel, 
gave  a  severe  but  just  account  of  the  pastors  of  that  period, 
when  he  says,  "You  ask  them  whether  they  believe  in  the 
Divinity  of  Christ — they  dare  not  answer.  You  ask  them 
if  he  were  a  mere  man— they  are  embarrassed,  and  will  not 
say  they  think  so."  Matters  proceeded  from  bad  to  worse, 
till  almost  all  the  ministers  of  the  Swiss  Church  became 
grossly  unsound  in  their  doctrinal  sentiments.  In  the  kind- 
ness of  God,  light  and  revival  appeared  at  the  period  of  the 
peace,  in  1815,  but  with  it  the  bitterest  persecution  was  called 
forth  among  those  who  professed  themselves  to  be  the  only 
friends  of  candour,  freedom,  and  toleration, — persecution 
worthy  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  men  who  abolished 
all  creeds  and  confessions,  in  twelve  short  years  expelled 
five  of  their  number  out  of  thirty-five  at  Geneva,  for  no  other 
crime  than  that  they  were  spiritual  men,  and  faithful  preach- 
ers of  the  Gospel,  according  to  the  ancient  standards  of  the 
Church !  A  gentleman  still  alive — the  Rev.  Mr.  Magnin — 
was  prosecuted  by  the  Socinian  Government  of  Neufchatel, 
because  he  was  a  faithful  minister — banished  for  ten  years 
from  the  Canton,  and  obliged  to  hear  his  sentence  kneeling 
in  the  mud,  in  the  public  streets,  with  a  halter  round  his 
neck.  Such  is  the  tender  and  tolerant  spirit  of  Rationalism, 
which  has  patience  and  kindness  for  every  thing  but  the 
Gospel  of  Christ! 

I  might  refer  the  reader  to  Holland  and  Germany  for  simi- 
lar illustrations,  but  it  is  unnecessary.  I  shall  only  give  a 
short  account  of  the  decline  in  the  Protestant  Church  of 
Germany,  in  the  words  of  the  French  correspondent  of  the 
"  New  York  Observer,"  a  gentleman  to  whose  writings  I 
shall  have  occasion  repeatedly  to  refer,  if  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, he  is  now  a  Professor  of  Literature  in  the  Protestant 
University  of  Montauban. 

"  Rationalism  rose  in  Germany  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  under  the  influence  of  several  external 

were  obliged  to  seek  for  posts  of  duty  in  foreign  churches:  one  only, 
Mr.  Gausscn,  had  been  elected  pastor  of  a  parish  before  the  revival 
became  conspicuous,  and  hence  was  a  member  of  the  Company," 

From  the  last  quotation,  it  would  seem  that  the  appointment  of 
ministers  by  Church  courts,  for  which  some  in  Scotland  contend  as  a 
grand  bulwark  against  error  and  heresy,  is  no  protection  at  all.  His- 
tory proves  that  the  ministry  are  much  more  likely  to  depart  from 
orthodox  doctrine  than  the  people. 


OP    FRANCE.  407 

causes.  The  writings  of  the  English  Deists — Toland,  Wool- 
aston,  Morgan,  Chubb,  Shaftsbury,  and  others,  had  begun 
to  circulate  beyond  the  Rhine,  and  to  diffuse  there  the  poi- 
son of  infidelity.  But  these  books,  reaching  only  a  i'ew 
hands,  would  have  produced  little  evil,  if  they  had  not  been 
soon  followed  by  the  writings  of  French  sceptics.  Three 
men  in  particular,  Bayle,  Voltaire,  and  John  James  Rous- 
seau, were  read  with  avidity.  All  persons  of  liberal  educa- 
tion were  acquainted  with  the  French  language,  and  could 
read  in  the  original  the  objections,  sophisms,  and  jeers,  of 
these  celebrated  infidels.  Besides  this,  there  was  at  Berlin 
a  king,  who  held  intimate  intercourse  with  the  French  phi- 
losophers, and  especially  with  Voltaire.  This  king,  I  need 
not  say,  was  Frederick  II.  He  possessed,  it  cannot  be  de- 
nied, eminent  qualities:  a  great  warrior,  a  wise  legislator,  a 
skilful  chief,  a  learned  man,  unwearied  in  toil,  attentive  to 
supply  the  physical  wants  of  his  country — he  raised  Prussia 
to  the  rank  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe.  But  by  this 
very  superiority  of  his  talents  and  genius,  he  exerted  a 
powerful  influence  over  the  religious  opinions  of  Germany. 
Frederick  II.  professed  openly  sceptical  principles ;  he  col- 
lected in  his  court  a  host  of  infidels,  who,  with  himself, 
mocked  at  the  most  sacred  truths  of  Christianity.  And  as 
his  name  was  every  where  respected,  he  \vas  not  long  in 
forming  a  numerous  party  among  the  German  literati  to  sup- 
port and  propagate  his  opinions. 

"  It  should  be  observed,  also,  that  Leibnitz,  his  disciple, 
Wolff,  and  the  School  of  Philosophy,  of  which  they  w^ere 
at  the  head,  had  prepared  the  way  for  infidelity.  I  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  Leibnilz  and  Wolff  were  themselves  ene- 
mies of  Christianity.  They  always  took  care,  on  the  con- 
trary, to  testify  in  their  writings  a  great  reverence  for  reveal- 
ed religion.  But  yet  the  tendency  of  their  philosophy  was 
antichristian.  They  constructed  a  system  of  rationalism 
wholly  independent  of  revelation,  and  by  exalting  the  hu- 
man mind  to  the  first  place,  instead  of  subjecting  it  to  the 
Word  of  God,  they  opened  a  dangerous  path,  in  which  their 
disciples  went  further  than  the  masters  designed.  This  was 
evident  when  Kant,  who  acknowledged* Leibnitz  and  Wolff 
as  his  precursors  and  his  masters,  raised  his  edifice  of  what 
he  called  pure  reason,  and  would  not  receive  Christianity 
except  on  condition  of  reducing  it  to  a  simple  philosophical 
theory.  Kant  did  not  attack  the  Gospel,  like  Voltaire,  with 
weapons  of  ridicule  and  insult;  he  even  claimed  the  name  of 


408 


PROTESTANT  CHURCH 


Christian,  and  composed  a  '  theory  of  true  reUgion  and  mo- 
rals appHed  to  pure  Christianity;'  but  the  pretended  Chris- 
tianity of  the  Professor  of  Konigsberg  existed  only  in  the 
title  of  his  book;  the  historical  facts  of  Revelation,  its  doc- 
trines, positive  precepts,  all  that  constitutes  the  true  Gospel, 
were  left  out  of  account,  as  unworthy  of  a  place  in  the  new 
philosophy.  The  German  theologians,  from  obvious  mo- 
tives, did  not  advance  so  rapidly  as  the  philosophers  in  the 
career  of  scepticism.  The  first  who  entered  upon  the  new 
ground,  and  struck  the  first  blow  at  the  old  orthodoxy,  was 
David  Michaelis,  Professor  of  Goettingen.  He  published, 
in  1761,  "An  Abridgment  of  Dogmatic  Theology,'*  in 
which,  while  preserving  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation, 
he  attacked,  in  several  points,  the  authority  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. After  him,  Augustus  Ernesti,  Professor  of  Leipsic, 
undertook  to  place  the  interpretation  of  the  New  Testament 
upon  a  new  basis,  opening  a  wide  door  to  the  conjectures  of 
human  reason. 

"But  the  theologian  who  distinguished  himself  most  by 
his  opposition  to  articles  in  the  Confessions  of  Faith,  was 
John  Solomon  Semler,  Professor  of  Halle.  He  possessed 
great  historical  learning,  and  remarkable  sagacity.  Unhap- 
pily he  did  not  stop  in  his  theological  opinions,  at  the  limits 
fixed  by  the  feebleness  of  the  human  understanding,  but  al- 
lowed himself  to  be  led  astray  by  the  pride  of  learning.  The 
attack  against  generally  established  doctrines  began  with  a 
discussion  on  the  demoniacs.  Semler  pretended  that  the 
demoniacs,  or  persons  possessed,  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament,  were  only  persons  afflicted  with  violent  nervous 
affections;  and  that,  if  the  sacred  writers  spoke  of  demons 
inhabiting  the  bodies  of  these  sick  persons,  it  was  merely  to 
conform  to  the  popular  notions  of  the  Jews  of  that  time,  Slc. 

"  Thus,  Semler  laid  down  the  principle  of  accommoda- 
tion, which  has  been  the  chief  weapon  of  rationalism.  No- 
thing more  easy,  indeed,  than  to  extinguish,  with  this  princi- 
ple, not  only  all  the  doctrines,  but  all  the  facts  of  Revelation ; 
it  is  only  to  say,  that  in  this  narrative  the  aposdes  accommo- 
dated themselves  to  the  prevailing  opinions,  and  immediately 
the  letter  of  the  Gos'pel  gives  place  to  the  most  arbitrary  ex- 
planations. "When  Semler  had  taken  this  first  step,  he  ne- 
cessarily took  a  second,  by  attacking  the  divine  inspiration 
of  the  Scriptures.  He  made  a  nice  distinction  between  the 
word  of  God  and  the  Bible,  contending  that  it  was  wrong  to 
take  the  whole  contents  of  the  Bible  for  the  word  of  God — 


OF    FRANCE. 


409 


a  new  and  extensive  principle,  offering  wonderful  latitude  to 
the  comments  of  every  interpreter,  for  as  each  might  say, 
when  expounding  the  Bible,  '  this  chapter  or  this  passage 
is  the  word  of  God,  but  this  other  chapter  or  passage  is 
not  the  word  of  God;'  the  result  was,  that  every  one  was 
at  liberty  to  accept  or  reject  what  he  pleased.  And  is  not 
the  pride  of  these  men  wonderful,  who  arrogate  the  riglit  of 
determining  what  God  could  or  could  not  say?  As  well 
might  there  be  no  Bible  at  all,  as  one  consisting  of  phrase- 
ology which  the  mind  of  man  may  shape  at  pleasure. 

"  Semler  prosecuted  his  work  of  opposition,  from  1760  to 
1791,  the  period  of  his  death;  and  numerous  theologians 
ranged  themselves  under  his  standard.  Abraham  Teller, 
Gottlieb  Toellner,  .Toachim  Spalding,  were  the  chief.  One 
maintained,  in  his  'Dictionary  of  the  New  Testament,'  that 
the  words  of  the  Bible  must  change  their  meaning  as  know- 
ledge increases.  Another  maintained,  that  God  is  revealed 
in  nature  so  clearly  that  we  may  dispense  with  the  revela- 
tions of  Moses  and  Jesus  Christ.  A  third  pretended  to  find 
in  several  doctrines  the  marks  of  a  delirious  imagination. 

"  At  this  time  a  publication,  called  the  '  German  Univer- 
sal Library,'  was  commenced  in  Berlin,  by  Frederick  Nico- 
lai,  bookseller,  under  the  protection  and  encouragement  of 
the  King  of  Prussia.  Liberal  Germany  would  have  her 
Encyclopaedia  also,  and  she  summoned  the  whole  phalanx 
of  anti-orthodox  theologians  to  build  this  new  tower  of  Babel. 
The  'Universal  Library'  was  issued,  with  some  interrup- 
tions, from  1765  to  1806;  and,  as  it  mingled  literature,  his- 
tory, poetry,  and  the  fine  arts,  with  theological  questions,  it 
circulated  among  men  of  the  world,  and  made  popular  the  opi- 
nions of  rationalism.  The  result  was  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected. Laymen  seeing  theologians  combat  successively  the 
doctrines  of  inspiration,  original  sin,  redemption,  eternal  pun- 
ishment, &c.,  rejected  the  whole,  and  lived  in  utter  infidelity. 

"In  1781  appeared  the  famous  'Fragments'  of  Samuel 
Reymarus.  This  writer  censures,  in  his  first  fragment,  the 
preachers  who  would  restrict  the  authority  of  human  reason. 
In  the  second  fragment  he  tries  to  prove  that  it  is  impossible 
for  God  to  command  all  men  to  believe  in  the  same  Revela- 
tion. Then  he  questions  the  truth  of  the  narratives  of  the 
Old  Testament;  the  passage  of  the  Israelites  through  the 
Red  Sea,  for  example;  and  finally,  he  denies  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ.  This  posthumous  book  of  Reymarus 
excited  a  very  strong  sensation.     Theologians  saw  the  need 


410 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


of  answering  it,  but  they  made  great  concessions  to  their 
adversary;  and  the  truths  of  the  Christian  faith  were  more 
and  more  obscured  in  religious  works. 

*'  The  rapid  progi'ess  of  neologists  and  infidels  at  last 
awakened  the  attention  of  several  of  the  governments  of 
Germany,  [n  Saxony,  the  reading  of  heterodox  books  was 
forbidden.  The  Prussian  Government  published,  in  1788, 
a  law  against  the  innovators.  It  should  be  added >  that  Fre- 
derick II.  was  now  dead,  and  was  succeeded  by  one  who 
possessed  religious  faith.  This  law  complained  that  the 
sad  errors  of  the  Socinians,  Deists,  and  Rationalists,  were 
shamelessly  revived  and  propagated  among  the  people,  under 
the  false  name  of  the  progress  of  light.  Three  years  after, 
in  1791,  a  committee  of  examination  was  established  in  Ber- 
lin to  condemn  bad  books  of  theology,  and  some  professors 
were  publicly  censured.  But  these  measures  of  Government 
had  no  good  effect.  The  evil  was  already  widely  extended. 
A  violent  opposition  was  made  in  the  Universities  against 
the  examining  committee,  and  not  without  reason,  it  must 
be  confessed;  for  it  does  not  belong  to  civil  governments  to 
decide  religious  controversies.  The  King  of  Prussia  asserted, 
indeed,  that  he  was  the  first  bishop  of  his  kingdom,  but  this 
was  only  a  political  fiction.  The  ancient  Confessions  of 
Faith  which  the  Cabinet  of  Berlin  ordered  to  be  kept,  were, 
on  the  contrary,  attacked  with  the  greatest  violence,  and  the 
civil  power  was  almost  always  forced  to  retire  before  the 
strong  opposition  of  Rationalism. 

"  Observe  further,  that  at  this  period  occurred  the  wars  in 
Europe  against  the  French  Revolution.  Times  of  war  are 
not  favourable  to  the  study  or  the  practice  of  evangelical 
truth.  The  increased  intercourse  of  the  German  population 
with  the  French  soldiers  contributed  to  disseminate  upon 
the  ancient  Teutonic  soil  the  principles  of  infidelity.  It  is 
not  surprising,  then,  that  the  period,  from  1790  to  1813,  was 
calamitous  for  orthodoxy. 

'*  For  twelve  or  fifteen  years  the  philosophy  of  Kant 
reigned  despotically  over  all  branches  of  human  learning. 
Theology  was  remodelled  upon  -a  new  philosophical  style. 
There  were  Kantian  doctrinal  tracts,  Kantian  moral  lessons, 
Kantian  sermons,  and  Kantian  catechisms.  The  theories, 
formulas,  and  maxims  of  Kant  were  universally  diffused.  It 
was  the  driest,  coldest  religion  imaginable.  Faith  was  found- 
ed on  meagre  abstractions,  and  morals  were  subjected  to  the 
formula  which  Kant  calls  the  imperative  category.     What 


OF    FRANCE.  411 

became  of  the  true  Gospel  in  Germany,  while  the  philoso- 
pher of  Konigsberg  reigned  absoUite  master?  The  Gospel 
was  forgotten,  or,  if  it  still  dwelt  in  any  hearts,  it  remained 
timidly  concealed,  to  avoid  the  blows  of  theologians.  But 
at  last  it  appeared  that  Kant  was  not  infallible,  and  that  an 
undue  authority  had  been  allowed  to  his  opinions.  A  two- 
fold opposition  now  arose.  On  one  hand,  the  philosophers 
raised  a  new  standard  under  the  guidance  of  Fichte  and 
Schelling,  and  the  pantheistical  theories  of  Spinosa  were  re- 
stored to  honour.  These  led  to  the  doctrine  of  Hegel,  a 
celebrated  philosopher  of  Berlin.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
theologians,  having  shaken  off  the  yoke  of  Kant,  were  divided 
into  two  parties,  called  Supra-Naturalists  and  Rationalists. 
The  chief  of  the  Supra-Naturalists  was  Reinhard,  preacher 
of  Dresden,  who  published  several  distinguished  works,  and 
among  others,  a  '  Course  of  Morals,'  and  numerous  volumes 
of  sermons.  The  Supra-Naturalists  admit  a  supernatural 
interposition  (hence  their  name)  in  the  establishment  of 
Christianity;  they  believe  that  the  miracles  mentioned  in 
the  sacred  books  were  real  miracles ;  they  pretend  not  to 
reconstruct  the  whole  Christian  religion  according  to  their 
own  fancy.  But  it  would  be  wrong  to  believe  that  the  Supra- 
Naturalists  are  in  general  orthodox  Christians;  they  are  but 
little  removed  from  Socinians.  As  to  Rationalists,  they  be- 
came more  and  more  rash  in  their  heterodox  systems,  and 
some  of  them  fell  at  last  into  the  most  monstrous  infidelity." 
An  interesting  inquiry  presents  itself — What  were  the 
proximate  causes  of  the  melancholy  change  in  the  character 
of  the  Churches  of '  the  Reformation?  Doubtless  a  with- 
drawal of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  was  the  real  cause.  But 
what  were  the  instrumental?  This  would  lead  into  a  very 
wide  field,  which  we  can  merely  touch.  The  writer  remem- 
bers to  have  put  the  question  to  the  late  eminent  Dr.  McCrie. 
His  answer  was,  that  "  There  were  a  great  variety  of  causes, 
which  it  would  require  much  time  to  unfold;  but  that  he 
thought  much  of  the  degeneracy  was  owing  to  false  doctrine 
having  got  into  the  Universities,  and  been  from  them  propa- 
gated by  the  young,  whom  they  educated,  throughout  the 
Church."  There  can  be  little  question  that  the  causes  dif- 
fered in  different  countries,  though  the  result  was  brought 
about  in  all  at  nearly  the  same  time.  Some  of  the  leading 
general  causes  may  have  been  common  to  all  churches.  Pro- 
bably the  keen  contests  and  divisions,  and  subdivisions  of 
Protestants,  upon  minute  and  unessential  points,  alienated 


412  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

the  spirit  of  love,  and  left  a  cold  orthodoxy,  without  devo- 
tion, standing  behind,  which  is  the  twin  sister  of  error.  Pro- 
bably, too,  a  failure  in  the  duty  of  propagating  the  Gospel 
abroad,  which  seems  to  be  one  of  the  grand  conditions  of 
its  being  allowed  to  remain  in  purity  at  home,  led  to  the 
withdrawing  of  the  vital  power  of  the  Spirit.  The  Church 
is  like  water.  If  she  stands  still,  she  stagnates  into  heresy; 
if  she  be  busy  and  laborious  in  doing  good  to  others — in 
propagating  the  Gospel — she  is  kept  pure,  like  living  water, 
by  her  very  flowing.  I  have  also  a  deep  conviction  that  the 
rise  and  gradual  progress  of  Arminianism,  strictly  so  called, 
from  an  early  period  in  the  seventeenth  century,  was  at  the 
root  of  much  of  the  subsequent  infidelity.  It  is  of  the  es- 
sence of  that  system  to  exalt  the  reason  and  ivill  of  man. 
This  not  only  weakens  the  internal  evidence  for  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  derived  from  its  unfolding  the  greatest  of  all 
wonders,  which  never  could  have  occurred  to  the  human 
mind — a  free  grace  salvation,  but  it  directly  leads  to  infi- 
delity, by  praising  and  paying  homage  to  the  powers  of  hu- 
man reason.  What  is  the  best  argument  for  infidelity  ?  Is 
not  the  sufficiency  of  that  light  which  man  can  strike  out 
for  himself  from  his  own  reason  and  conscience,  and  the 
observation  of  nature  around  him.  Calvinistic  views  of  the- 
ology have  a  closer  connection  with  the  Evidences  of  the 
divine  truth  of  the  Gospel  than  many  imagine.  Besides, 
Arminianism  and  Popery  go  hand  in  hand,  and  it  is  well 
known  that  Popery  and  Infidelity  have  always  been  singu- 
larly allied  to  each  other.  There  is  a  statement  of  Wodrow's 
remarkably  confirmatory  of  these  views.  Writing  in  1731, 
he  relates,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Stewart,  that  since  the 
publication  of  Tyndal's  infidel  book,  many  of  the  bishops 
and  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England  showed  a  disposition 
to  return  to  Calvinistic  doctrine  and  the  Thirty-nine  Articles; 
and  that  several  of  them  acknowledged,  in  conversation,  that, 
on  the  principles  of  Tillotson,  Sherlock,  &c.,  on  the  suffi- 
ciency of  man's  natural  powers,  "  it  would  be  very  hard  to 
defend  Christianity  against  the  Deists."  But  with  regard 
more  particularly  to  Scotland.  I  have  little  doubt  that  the 
protracted  and  tyrannous  persecution  of  the  Church  by  pro- 
fessed Protestants,  and  the.  ready  conformity  of  so  many 
ministers  at  the  Revolution,  for  a  piece  of  bread,  to  the  very 
Church  which  they  had  been  oppressing  for  years — these 
things  disgusted  thousands,  and  led  them  to  believe  that  re- 
ligion was  mere  self-interest  and  hypocrisy.    To  men  in  this 


OF    FRANCE.  413 

State  of  mind  it  need  scarcely  be  said,  that  the  progress  from 
one  error  to  another,  and  from  heresy  to  infidehty,  is  easy. 
How  could  mere  men  of  the  world,  if  possessed  of  any 
sense,  and  judging  of  religion  by  its  professed  ministers, 
think  favourably  of  it  when  they  saw  ministers  of  religion 
persecuting  their  brethren  one  day,  and,  for  the  sake  of  their 
livings,  going  over  in  hundreds  the  next  day  to  the  very 
same  party  whom  they  had  been  persecuting?  This  must 
have  been  most  adverse.  It  is  sad,  but  not  at  variance  with 
the  ordinary  plans  of  Providence,  that  the  misdeeds  of  the 
Church  should  thus  be  the  cause  of  her  own  punishment. 
We  do  not  say,  that  though  she  were  to  act  with  perfect 
consistency  fully  up  to  her  professed  character,  all  men 
v/ould  be  convinced,  and  there  would  be  no  infidelity.  Far 
from  it.  The  more  pure  the  ("hurch  becomes,  she  will  pro- 
voke the  fiercer  opposition ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  she  will 
remove  one  of  the  ready  apologies  for  infidelity,  and  hold 
men  up  to  themselves  as  inexcusable;  and  this  state  of  things, 
under  God,  is  very  favourable  to  conversion. 

There  was  now,  then,  a  leaven  of  irreligion  and  unsound 
doctrine  in  not  a  few  of  the  pulpits  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land within,  and  there  was  much  infidelity  in  the  richer  and 
higher  classes  of  society  without.  Had  the  voice  of  the 
body  of  the  people,  who  had  been  well  instructed  in  other 
days,  and  whose  humble  libraries  consisted  solely  of  sound 
theology,  and  who  held  by  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  the  scriptural  principles  for  which  their  fathers  died 
on  the  scaffold,  been  listened  to,  much,  humanly  speaking, 
would  have  been  done  to  retard,  if  not  altogether  to  counter- 
work the  progress  of  the  poison;  but  now  the  operation  of 
the  unhappy  Patronage  Act  of  1711  became  more  and  more 
visible.  The  sound  part  of  the  people  lost  the  power  in 
the  appointment  of  ministers  which  they  once  enjoyed,  and 
that  power  was  transferred  to  the  very  party  who  were  most 
accessible  to  the  irreligious  and  infidel  influences  of  the  age. 
In  process  of  time  patrons  obtained  Church  courts  like  them- 
selves. The  wishes  of  an  evangelical  people  were  not  only 
disregarded,  they  were  trampled  upon  with  disdain.  So 
early  as  1720,  a  minister  was  settled  at  Bathgate  by  the  aid 
of  dragoons.  By  1731,  such  cases  became  more  numerous. 
At  least,  it  was  not  uncommon,  Wodrow  says,  for  the  Church 
courts  to  prefer  the  man  who  happened  to  have  the  presenta- 
tion, though  but  few  heads  of  families  supported  him,  to  the 
man  who  had  many.     The  immediate  effect  of  this  severe 


414  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

and  growing  exercise  of  patronage,  was  the  secession  of  a 
large  body  of  people  from  the  Established  Church.  The 
people  would  not  sit  under  the  ministry,  not  only  of  the  men 
who  were  intruded  into  parishes,  but  of  those  who  had  borne 
a  part  in  the  settlement.  The  elders,  too,  in  these  cases,  re- 
fused to  assist  at  the  communion.  This  swelled  the  ranks 
of  Dissent,  which,  headed  by  a  few  leading  ministers,  moved 
on  from  step  to  step,  till,  in  twenty-five  years,  it  could  boast 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  places  of  worship,  and  many 
thousand  adherents.  While,  as  a  minister  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  and  of  Scotland  T  deplore  this  schism,  and  think  it 
might  have  been  spared,  and  that  it  would  have  been  better 
for  the  interests  of  truth  and  righteousness  had  the  men  who 
seceded  remained  in  communion  with  the  Establishment,  and 
prevented  the  Church  becoming  so  cold  and  useless  as  she 
becanne,  and  Dissent  itself  from  degenerating  so  sadly  from 
its  original  principles — while  I  hold  these  views,  it  is  impos- 
sible not  to  regard  so  large  and  rapidly  formed  a  Secession 
as  a  striking  proof  of  the  wide-spread  influence  of  true  reli- 
gion over  the  country  generally,  in  spite  of  all  the  tendencies 
to  unsound  doctrine  which  have  been  described.  Nor  should 
it  be  forgotten,  that  in  the  dark  and  cold  age  which  followed, 
the  Seceders,  with  their  ever  augmenting  numbers,  kept  up 
the  spirit  and  power  of  religion  in  many  quarters  from  which, 
under  the  baleful  Act  of  1711,  or  rather  its  rigorous  exercise, 
they  had  disappeared. 

While  of  all  religions  evangelical  religion  is  the  most 
strict  and  spiritual — while  it  most  severely  condemns  men 
as  sinners,  and  most  earnestly  calls  them  to  repentance  and 
holiness,  and  is  therefore  hated  by  the  natural  mind,  it  is  a 
singular  fact,  that  it  is,  at  the  same  time,  more  interesting 
and  popular  than  any  religious  system  which  the  wisest  men 
have  been  able  to  substitute  in  its  place.  He  who  is  its  Au- 
thor, and  He  who  formed  the  human  conscience,  is  the  same 
Being;  hence  the  one  is  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  the 
other,  and  even  ungodly  men  feel  the  adaptation :  the  truth 
commends  itself  to  their  consciences  in  spite  of  themselves. 
The  effect  of  this  again  is,  that,  as  compared  with  any  sys- 
tem of  false  doctrine,  the  Gospel  is  permanendy  popular. 
Some  men  who  have  been  long  accustomed  to  a  cold  dry 
Arminianism  may  dislike  the  warmth  and  strictness  of  a  sal- 
vation by  free  grace,  but  they  will  not  abandon  its  preaching 
on  this  account.  Let,  however,  an  Arminian  teacher  follow 
the  faithful  ministration  of  the   Gospel,  and  there  is  an  im- 


OF    FRANCE.  415 

mediate  secession  from  the  Church.  It  is  owing  to  the  same 
cause  that  no  book  of  unsound  doctrine  has  ever  been  gene- 
rally or  permanently  popular  in  Scotland;  while  many  works, 
such  as  those  of  Boston,  without  any  adventitious  attraction, 
have  been  amazingly  wide-spread  and  useful.  What  work, 
in  point  of  popular  interest,  can  compare  with  the  "Pil- 
grim's Progress?"  and  what  is  it  but  a  striking  picture  of 
evangelical  religion  in  its  creed  and  practice?  The  essen- 
tially popular  and  interesting  character  of  evangelical  reli- 
gion, of  which  the  history  of  Scotland  is  a  remarkable  illus- 
tration, may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  internal  evidences  of 
its  divine  truth.  It  is  fitted  to  render  men  inexcusable.  If 
they  could  plead  that  the  message  of  God  was  inherently 
dry  and  repulsive,  inattention  would  admit  of  the  greater 
apology ;  but  when  it  is  remembered  that  it  is  inherently  in- 
teresting, the  guilt  of  inconsideration  is  the  more  fatal — de- 
struction is  confessedly  the  more  just. 

With  regard  to  the  seceders  from  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
there  were  various  divisions  and  subdivisions  in  the  party ; 
one  of  them,  and  a  very  serious  one,  occurred  in  fourteen 
years  from  the  date  of  the  first  separation  from  the  parent 
Church.  But  throughout  all  these,  the  doctrine,  government, 
worship,  and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  were 
maintained,  with  the  exception  of  one  principle  of  very  re- 
cent agitation;  so  that,  at  this  moment,  with  all  her  apparent 
divisions,  Scotland  is  perhaps  the  most  religiously  united 
country  of  any  in  Protestant  Christendom.  What  higher 
testimony  could  we  have  to  the  depth  and  extent  of  the  pre- 
vious religion?  The  powerful  hierarchy  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  which  once  covered  the  land,  may  have  shrunk  into 
seventy  priests,  though  the  population  has,  in  the  meantime, 
more  than  doubled;  and  the  Episcopal  Church,  which  once 
boasted  that  the  country  was  her's,  may  have  been  reduced 
to  a  similar  number,  and  even  of  these  a  large  number  may 
be  most  miserably  paid  or  starved,  nearly  a  third  oUhe  whole 
clergy  being  paid  under  £60  a-year.  Deprived  of  the  aid 
of  temporalities  and  civil  power,  both  Churches,  even  though 
the  last  embraces  in  its  communion  the  wealthiest  families  of 
the  land,  may  be,  comparatively  speaking,  insignificant;  but 
Presbyterianism,  whether  in  the  Establishment  or  out  of  it, 
has  grown  and  flourished.  Favoured  by  the  State  or  not,  it 
has  proved  itself,  in  spite  of  all  declension  and  divisions,  to 
be  the  Church  of  Scotland.  And  how  has  this  been  brought 
about?     There  is  no  answer  but  the  marvellous  labours  and 


416  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

sacrifices  of  the  founders  of  the  Church  and  their  successors, 
and  the  widely-extended  religious  principles  which,  with  the 
blessing  of  God,  they  were  enabled  to  spread  abroad  among 
all  classes  of  the  people. 

The  declension  of  the  Church  still  went  forward.  Indeed, 
the  Secession  hastened  it.  It  drew  not  a  little  of  the  life- 
blood  from  the  already  bleeding  body,  and  the  settlement  of 
ministers  became  more  secular  and  violent  than  ever.  The 
wonder  is  that  the  Church  survived  such  heavy  strokes — 
that  she  still  remains  in  the  land,  and  is  daily  adding  to  her 
character  and  numbers.  Many  Churches  would  have  been 
extinguished  by  similar  treatment,  but  her  hold  upon  the 
people  was  deep  and  tenacious,  and  God  was  pleased,  at  a 
very  dark  and  discouraging  season,  to  cheer  the  hearts  of 
her  remaining  faithful  people.  Not  only  did  he  enable  her 
General  Assembly,  in  1736,  with  the  consent  of  Presbyte- 
ries, to  give  forth  a  glorious  testimony  in  behalf  of  Gospel 
truths,  in  an  Act  regarding  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
which  was  a  public  deed  and  encouragement  of  evangelical 
doctrine;  but  in  1743,  when  not  a  few  were  disposed  to 
question  whether  she  were  a  Christian  Church  at  all.  He 
visited  several  of  her  parishes  with  remarkable  revivals  of 
religion — at  Kilsyth,  where  three  to  four  hundred,  and  Cam- 
buslang,  where  three  hundred  were  brought  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth  in  a  few  wrecks,  and  evinced  the  moral 
change  to  their  dying  day,  by  a  life  and  conversation  becom- 
ing the  Gospel ;  besides,  in  many  other  places  the  Holy  Spirit 
stamped  the  Church  of  Scotland  as  still  a  Church  of  the 
living  God.  In  subsequent  days — at  Moulin  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  present  century,  and  at  Kilsyth  and  elsewhere  so 
recently  as  last  year;  in  Ross-shire,  in  the  present  year,  the 
Spirit  lifted  up  a  similar  testimony  in  behalf  of  the  Church 
of  Scodand,  and  that,  too,  at  a  time  when  her  enemies  are 
many,  and  calling  in  question  the  validity  of  her  ordinances, 
or  denouncing  her  as  antichristian  in  her  alliance  with  the 
State.  It  is  remarkable,  that  at  the  same  seasons — the  mid- 
dle and  conclusion  of  the  last  century,  and  the  present  day — 
when  the  Church  at  home  has  been  revived  with  drops  of 
the  shower  of  blessing,  there  have  been  similar  manifesta- 
tions of  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  United  States 
of  America;  as  if  the  same  Spirit  who  was  withdrawn  from 
the  Churches  together,  would  show  that  He  may  be  com- 
municated to  them  in  conjunction,  and  would  invite  the 
joint  intercessions  of  the  people  of  God  in  all  lands  the  more. 


OF    FRANCE. 


417 


In  1745,  the  country  was  alarmed  and  agitated  by  the  last 
Popish  rebellion.  Had  the  Church  been  as  uninterrupted 
and  faithful  in  her  labours  as  she  had  been  for  many  years  after 
the  Revolution  of  1688,  her  moral  influence  must  have  gone 
far  to  prevent  this  infatuated  struggle.  Every  man"  whom 
she  converted  from  Popery  would  have  been  turned  from 
rebellion  to  loyalty.  But  she  was  weakened;  and  the  state 
had  done  nothing  to  extend  Cliristian  education  and  instruc- 
tion in  the  Popish  districts.  A  proposal  had  been  made,  or 
rather  an  Act  of  Parliament  passed,  early  in  the  reign  of 
George  T.,  enacting  that  £20,000  should  be  appropriated  out 
of  the  sale  of  the  estates  forfeited  in  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, in  the  recent  Popish  risings,  for  erecting  and  main- 
taining schools  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland;  but  though 
£100,000  were  oflfered  for  the  apprehension  of  the  Pretender, 
and  £5000  were  jusdy  awarded  to  the  Dissenters  to  rebuild 
their  places  of  worship,  which  had  suffered  from  the  violence 
of  the  Jacobites,  and  a  fixed  sum  of  £15,000  a-year  was 
generously  paid  for  the  relief  of  the  French  Protestants,  the 
grant  to  the  Highlands  was  never  made  available,  and  that 
though  both  the  Church  and  the  "  Society  in  Scotland  for 
Propagating  Christian  Knowledge"  repeatedly  and  earnestly 
applied  to  Parliament  for  the  purpose.  The  Highlands  and 
Islands,  which,  owing  to  the  ignorance,  superstition,  and 
insubordination  which  Popery  nursed,  were  the  greatest  suf- 
ferers from  the  Popish  party,  received  no  public  aid  to  coun- 
ter-work their  deleterious  influence,  except  the  royal  grant 
of  £1000,  afterwards  raised  to  £2000  a-year,  which  the 
Church  still  enjoys,  and  devotes  to  the  maintenance  of  mis- 
sionaries. This  treatment  of  the  Church  v/as  the  more  cul- 
pable, that  she  was  not  only  eminently  loyal,  but  the  success 
of  her  efl?brts  against  Popery,  and  so  in  behalf  of  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  country,  was  almost  immediately  visible.  It 
was  found  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  Rebellion  of  1745,  that 
the  friends  and  supporters  of  the  Pretender  were  drawn  from 
quarters  where  the  Church  had  no  Christian  schools, — in 
short,  where  the  people  had  been  left  to  themselves.  There 
were  fewer,  too,  of  the  common  people  engaged  in  the  Re- 
bellion of  1745  than  in  that  of  1715— so  slates  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Walker  of  Edinburgh;  and  from  an  intercepted  correspond- 
ence between  a  Popish  bishop  and  a  Popish  emissary,  found 
in  the  Island  of  Morar  two  years  after  the  Rebellion,  it  ap- 
pears that  charity  schools,  and  itinerant  missionaries,  and, 
above  all,  "  the  erecting  of  new  parishes  in  such  places  where 

27 


418 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


our  folks  (i.  e. ,  Roman  Catholics)  chiefly  abound,"  were 
objects,  from  experience,  of  great  dread  and  terror  to  the 
priests  of  Rome. 

Declining  as  the  Church  of  Scotland  was,  in  character  and 
doctrine,  by  ihe  period  of  the  Rebellion,  she  was  very  warm- 
ly attached  to  the  existing  royal  family;  and  many  of  her 
ministers  indicated  no  small  courage,  and  submitted  to  no 
small  suffering,  in  taking  arms  and  employing  other  means 
in  their  defence.  Principal  Robertson  was  one  of  the  num- 
ber. It  is  related  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  M'Vicar,  one  of  the  min- 
isters of  the  West  Church  of  Edinburgh,  that  he  boldly 
prayed  for  George  by  name,  in  a  crowded  house,  where 
many  Jacobites  were  assembled,  after  he  had  been  threatened 
and  when  the  city  was  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels ;  and  con- 
tinued to  do  so  during  the  whole  six  weeks  that  the  High- 
landers kept  possession  of  Edinburgh.  There  was  here  real 
courage.  The  faithful  minister  was  in  danger,  during  the 
very  act  of  public  worship,  of  being  cut  off  by  the  rebels' 
sword.  The  zeal  and  courage  of  the  Church  are  the  more 
creditable,  that  large  promises  were  held  out  on  the  other 
side,  and  that  the  clergy  have  usually  been  accused  of  lean- 
ing to  power  as  distinguished  from  popular  rights.  In  former 
reigns,  respectable  parties,  such  as  the  universities  and  the 
lawyers  of  the  land,  leaned  to  the  exiled  family  and  the  op- 
pressor. In  the  times  of  Charles  I.  and  Charles  II.,  while 
the  students  were  on  the  side  of  the  Covenant  and  Presbyte- 
rianism,  not  a  few  of  the  professors  temporized  to  the  royal 
side,  and  would  have  put  up  with  semi-Popery  and  Persecu- 
tion. At  the  Revolution,  the  decided  majority  in  all  the 
universities  were  the  friends  of  the  Popish  James;  so  that 
several,  in  consequence,  lost  their  situations.  At  a  later  day, 
the  whole  legal  strength  of  the  country,  advocates  and  wri- 
ters to  the  signet,  according  to  Bower,  were  arrayed  on  the 
side  of  the  Stuaris.  How  honourable,  then,  was  it  for  the 
Church,  all  along,  to  maintain  so  consistent  a  testimony  against 
"  Popery,  slavery,  and  arbitrary  power,"  and  to  expose  herself 
to  trial  and  suffering  in  vindication  of  her  testimony!  How 
well  did  she  deserve  of  the  State ;  and  how  much,  then,  is  it  to 
be  lamented  that  the  State  failed  so  greatly  in  her  duty  to  the 
Popish  quarters  of  the  land — a  duty  which  might  have  been 
so  easily  and  cheaply  discharged;  and  how  sad,  that  the  de- 
generacy of  the  Church  came  in  to  countenance  the  coldness 
of  the  Slate.  Had  proper  means  been  employed,  the  High- 
lands and  Islands,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  might,  long 


OF  FRANCE.  419 

ago,  have  been  as  Protestant  as  the  Lowlands.  The  eigh- 
teenth century  might  have  completed  what  the  seventeenth 
so  well  began,  and  so  vigorously  carried  forward.  Instead 
of  being  called,  at  the  present  day,  to  mourn  over  many  dis- 
tricts which  remain  Popish,  and  some  which  have  lost  the 
Protestantism  to  which  they  had  formerly  attained — such  as 
the  Island  of  Barra — the  Christian  might  have  rejoiced  in  a 
universally  Protestant  population,  both  at  home  and  in  the 
Canadian  Colonies;  but  the  reign  of  sound  religious  principle 
seems  ever  to  have  been  unhappily  short.  Surely  the  Church 
of  Christ  in  these  lands  lies  under  a  heavy  responsibility ; 
and  those  who  weaken  her  influence  are  not  guiltless.  How 
sad  and  humiliating,  that  there  should  be  a  large  body  of  na- 
tive-born Roman  Catholics  in  this  country,  after  the  Pro- 
testant Church  has  been  established  for  nearly  three  hundred 
years !  How  different  the  zeal  and  success  of  our  forefathers 
at  the  Reformation ! 

I  cannot  better  conclude  these  observations  than  in  the 
words  of  the  pious  and  accomplished  Dr.  Doddridge,  in  his 
"  Life  of  Colonel  Gardiner."  "  According  to  my  best  in- 
formation, from  persons  who  are  most  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  afTairs  in  the  north,  the  two  great  springs  of  rebellion 
amongst  the  inhabitants  of  these  Highland  countries  are  their 
idleness  and  their  ignorance.  The  former  subjects  them  to 
a  slavish  dependence  on  their  masters,  and  is  also  the  cause 
of  their  being  so  addicted  to  stealing,  and  the  latter  makes 
them  a  prey  to  Popish  priests  and  missionaries  from  Rome, 
who  are  constantly,  and  in  great  numbers,  trafficking  among 
them.  It  has  been  very  justly  remarked,  that  the  success 
they  have  in  seducing  these  poor  ignorant  people,  is  occa- 
sioned, in  a  great  measure,  by  the  vast  extent  of  parishes  in 
those  Highland  countries ;  some  of  them  being  betwixt  thirty 
and  forty  miles  in  length,  and  twenty  and  thirty  in  breadth, 
full  of  great  mountains,  rapid  rivers,  and  arms  of  the  sea; 
and  those  parishes  which  are  more  moderate  in  their  extent, 
are  about  twenty  miles  in  length,  and  ten  or  twelve  in  breadth ; 
and  it  is  every  where  to  be  observed  through  these  parishes, 
that  around  the  place  of  the  minister's  residence,  the  inhabi- 
tants are  almost  all  Protestants,  but  in  the  corners  which  are 
remote  from  his  residence  they  are  generally  all  Papists. 
Now  it  is  evident  that  these  poor  people  can  only  be  cured 
of  idleness,  by  teaching  them  manufactures  to  which  they 
are  wholly  strangers.  And  it  is  hard  to  imagine  how  they 
can  be  rescued  from  Popish  ignorance,  until  there  are  several 


420  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

new  parishes  erected  in  those  extensive  countries.  It  would 
ill  become  me  to  pretend  to  direct  the  government  of  Britain 
on  such  an  occasion ;  but  I  know  it  to  be  the  opinion  of  many 
persons  in  these  parts,  of  distinguished  wisdom  and  experi- 
ence, that  if  it  should  be  thought  fit  to  employ  the  produce 
of  the  estates  confiscated  by  the  late  Rebellion  for  these  valu- 
able purposes — this,  with  the  ^61000  of  his  Majesty's  royal 
bounty,  annually  bestowed,  would  go  a  good  way  towards 
remedying  these  two  great  evils,  vi^ith  their  train  of  misera- 
ble consequences  which  we  have  of  late  so  deeply  felt.  And 
wlio  would  not  rejoice  to  see  all  these  poor  people  sharing 
with  us  fully  in  all  the  privileges  and  advantages  of  Christians 
and  Britons?  I  pray  God  to  guide  and  prosper  every  scheme 
for  this  purpose;  and  in  this  connection  I  cannot  but  mention 
and  recommend  the  '  Society  for  Propagating  the  Knowledge 
of  Religion,'  and  with  it  the  principles  of  loyalty  in  these 
Highland  countries — a  design  in  which  so  many  worthy  per- 
sons, both  in  the  northern  and  southern  parts  of  our  island, 
are  incorporated.  But  their  stock  is  by  no  means  equal  to 
the  purposes  here  mentioned;  and  by  their  constitution,  they 
are  confined  to  the  support  of  schools,  which  are  indeed 
going  on  with  great  success,  as  far  as  the  revenue  will  allow 
them." 


CHAPTER  VH. 

FROM  J  755  TO  1792. 

The  history  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  France,  which  I 
am  at  present  rapidly  tracing,  is  very  painful.  It  is  almost 
the  unbroken  history  of  persecution.  In  former  periods,  I 
had  the  satisfaction  of  presenting  pleasing  evidence  of  the 
spiritual  character  and  undertakings  of  the  Church;  but, 
however  excellent  her  spirit  and  exertions  may  have  been 
at  the  period  under  review,  we  have  no  record  of  them. 
The  Protestants  were  wholly  occupied  with  their  sufferings; 
they  were  seldom  allowed  to  assemble  in  Church  courts. 
They  were  not  permitted  to  publish  books  or  documents. 
Hence  their  present  history  may  almost  be  called  a  blank. 
The  only  traces  of  it  are  in  the  blood  of  persecution.  Sick- 
ening as  these  traces  are,  we  must  not  shrink  from  them.  It 
is  well  to  see  the  true  character  of  Popery,  and  to  remember 


OF    FRANCE. 


421 


the  sufferings  of  the  saints  of  God.  Thus  only  can  we 
value  aright  our  own  inestimable  privileges.  It  is  sad  that 
France,  which  boasts  of  her  civilization  and  refinement,  of 
her  literature  and  the  arts,  should  have  been,  we  may  say, 
the  latest  country  in  Europe  to  abandon  persecution,  and 
that  on  a  great  scale,  and  in  a  legal  form.  At  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century  she  was  still  pursuing  her  course  of 
cruelty  and  oppression;  and,  what  is  singular,  her  bitterest 
persecution  may  be  said  almost  to  run  parallel  with  the  most 
brilliant  days  of  her  literature.  Does  not  this,  as  we  have 
taken  occasion  already  to  remark,  show,  at  least,  that  science, 
and  polite  learning,  and  civilization,  cannot  change  the  sav- 
age dispositions  of  men — their  hatred  to  the  truth  of  God; 
and  that  it  is  vain  to  look  to  them  as  the  safeguards  of  liber- 
ty, whether  civil  or  religious?  How  idle,  then,  the  expecta- 
tion, that  they  are  to  introduce  into  society  a  new  era  of 
brotherly  love  and  universal  happiness. 

In  the  former  chapter  I  brought  down  the  history  of  the 
Protestant  Church  to  1755.  Immediately  before  there  had 
been  a  most  violent  persecution,  and  though  it  was  now 
abating,  the  waters  were  still  restless  and  disturbed.  In 
1758,  Oliver  Goldsmith  translated  from  the  French  the  ac- 
count of  a  Protestant  gentleman,  who  had  been  condemned 
to  the  galleys,  and  detained  in  slavery  for  thirteen  years. 
He  was  set  free  at  the  intercession  of  the  Court  of  Great 
Britain.  The  original  work  had  very  recently  been  printed 
at  the  Hague  in  two  volumes.  The  biographer  of  Goldsmith 
declares  it  is  full  of  horrors;  and  the  fact  that  the  poet  trans- 
lated so  large  a  work,  is  a  proof  of  the  interest  which  was 
felt  on  the  subject  in  this  country.  Down  to  1761,  there 
was  a  relaxation  in  the  violence.  Though  the  laws  of  per- 
secution were  in  full  and  unaltered  force,  yet  the  breach  of 
them  was,  to  a  considerable  extent,  connived  at  by  the  civil 
authorities.  The  severity  of  the  proceedings,  especially  in 
connection  with  Protestant  baptisms  and  marriages,  from 
1751  to  1753,  seems  to  have  driven  such  multitudes  from  the 
country,  that  the  Court  became  alarmed,  and  were  glad  to 
permit" something  like  an  intermission.  This,  however,  was 
short-lived.  The  rest  was  but  a  breathing  time.  In  less  than 
ten  years  these  persecuting  measures  were  revived  with  great 
severity.  The  author  of  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  The  Very 
Humble  and  Respectful  Prayer  of  the  Protestants  of  Langue- 
doc  to  the  King,"  speaking  of  them,  says,  *'  It  is  not  the 
cause  of  one,  but  of  more  than  twelve  thousand  families  in 


422  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

the  diocese  of  Nismes,  and  more  than  eighty  thousand  in 
the  province  of  Languedoc,  who  implore  justice  from  the 
king."  These  numbers  indicate  a  Protestant  population,  in 
two  districts  alone,  of  nearly  five  hundred  thousand;  show- 
ing that  the  Protestants  were  still  a  large  and  respectable 
body.  Shortly  after,  in  the  account  of  the  Protestant  mar- 
riages of  France  from  the  work  of  Walch,  it  is  stated,  that 
a  suit  in  the  Presidial  Court  at  Nismes  involved  the  fate  of 
six  hundred  thousand  married  persons,  and  of  three  and  a 
half  millions  of  children.  Thus  completely  did  Popory  in 
this  case  fail  to  exterminate  the  objects  of  its  hatred  and  per- 
secution ;  but  how  dreadful,  that  the  domestic  comfort  and 
happiness  of  so  large  a  body  of  men  should  still  be  at  the 
mercy  of  enemies,  whom  eighty  years  of  cruelty  could  not 
appease ! 

Protestant  marriages,  it  will  be  recollected,  after  the  Edict 
of  the  Revocation,  and  particularly  after  the  Declaration  of 
1724,  w^ere  rigorously  forbidden,  except  upon  terms  which 
no  consistent  Protestant  could  agree  to.  In  short,  they  were 
made  Popish  ceremonies,  and  means  of  educating  the  young 
for  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  penalty,  however,  of  disre- 
garding these  persecuting  decrees  was  very  serious.  'I'he 
conjugal  relationship  w^as  pronounced  concubinage.  The 
children  were  illegitimatized,  and  declared  incapable  of  in- 
heriting the  property  of  their  parents.  Still  did  the  poor 
Protestants  continue  to  marry  accordmg  to  their  own  forms. 
From  now  having  no  churches  in  which  to  solemnize  them, 
and  from  their  being  therefore  conducted  in  the  open  fields, 
they  were  cnWed  mamages  of  the  desert.  Through  few  in- 
struments of  oppression  did  their  enemies  more  grievously 
wound  them.  If  Roman  Catholics  wished  to  exclude  the 
children  of  a  Protestant  marriage  from  an  inheritance,  that 
the  property  might  come  to  themselves  as  next  heirs,  or  if 
there  were  any  disagreement  in  a  Protestant  family,  and 
either  of  the  parties  wished  a  separation,  nothing  more  was 
necessary  than  to  dispute  the  validity  of  the  marriage,  and 
a  door  was  opened  at  once  to  avaricious  cruelty  and  the  worst 
forms  of  licentious  profligacy.  Where  the  parties  were  of 
considerable  standing  in  society,  and  the  consequences  de- 
pending on  the  suit  important,  these  cases  were  tried  before 
the  appropriate  civil  court;  and,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
such  public  discussions  of  the  most  heart-rending  cases,  were 
the  very  means  of  cliecking  the  progress  of  persecution,  and 
of  creating  a  relaxation,  if  not  a  reaction,  in  behalf  of  the 


OF   FRANCE. 


423 


Protestants.  The  courts  were  open  to  the  public ;  the  inter- 
est was  general;  the  most  able  advocates  were  employed  on 
both  sides,  and  the  nature  of  the  cases  was  such  as  to  give 
the  finest  scope  to  the  peculiar  powers  of  French  oratory. 
It  is  easy  to  see,  then,  how  beneficially  this  state  of  things 
must  have  operated  in  behalf  of  the  Protestants.  To  select 
a  celebrated  case.  In  1774,  Mr.  Roux,  one  of  the  wealthiest 
merchants  of  Nismes — for  the  Protestants  still  held  much  of 
the  mercantile  wealth  of  the  country  in  their  hands — had 
been  happily  married  for  a  number  of  years,  and  was  blessed 
with  a  family.  In  the  course  of  an  illness  with  which  he 
was  afflicted,  his  wife  was  betrayed  into  unfaithfulness.  In 
self-defence  she  fled  to  a  nunnery,  professed  herself  a  Roman 
Catholic,  and  brought  an  action  in  the  supreme  court  of  the 
province,  in  order  to  prove  that  her  marriage  was  null  and 
void.  The  only  alternative  which  she  offered  her  husband 
was,  to  become,  like  herself,  a  Roman  Catholic,  to  which  he 
would  not  submit.  Troussel,  an  able  advocate,  took  up  the 
Protestant  cause,  and  showed,  from  the  law  of  nature,  the 
civil  law,  a  bull  of  Benedict  XIV.,  and  the  decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  that  marriages  solemnized  in  Protestant 
Churches  were  valid.  It  would  seem  there  was  some  ambi- 
guity in  the  prohibitory  decrees,  which  enabled  him  also  to 
plead  the  ground  of  dubiety.  I  select  one  or  two  passages 
from  the  advocate's  pleading,  which,  as  a  whole,  was  pro- 
nounced not  unworthy  of  Cicero  or  Demosthenes. 

"  Will  you,  by  dissolving  this  marriage,  strike  horror  in- 
to six  hundred  thousand  virtuous  families?  Wiiat  my  lords  ! 
shall  this  province,  blessed  with  so  favourable  a  climate  and 
so  rich  a  soil,  and  which  is  chiefly  indebted  for  its  beauty 
and  fertflity  to  the  industry  of  Protestants ;  shall  this  city, 
where  the  sciences,  where  the  fine  arts,  and  where  manu- 
factures flourish,  and  where  such  multitudes  of  that  religion 
are  numbered  among  their  patrons  ;  shall  the  whole  land  be- 
come the  dreadful  abode  of  vice  and  violence?  Shall  those 
united  by  the  tenderest  ties  be  cruelly  torn  asunder,  and  the 
purest  love  blotted  with  the  hated  name  of  concubinage? 
Shall  ladies,  estimable  for  their  natural  charms,  but  more  so 
for  the  thousand  virtues  which  adorn  them,  be  taught,  that 
what  they  imagined  the  chaste  embraces  of  a  husband,  were 
indeed  the  pollutions  of  a  seducer?  Here  I  visit  the  hall  of 
affluence,  honesfly  earned  and  honourably  used.  I  see  a 
venerable  old  man  surrounded  with  his  sons,  their  wives,  and 
their  children.  I  hear  them  mutually  addressing  one  another 


424  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

by  the  names  of  father  and  child,  or  in  the  still  more  sweet 
and  endearing  language  of  the  marriage  relation ;  vieing  one 
with  another  in  expressions  of  warm  affection,  and  in  pray- 
ers for  long  life  to  their  king,  and  for  prosperity  to  their 
country.  If  the  request  of  the  lady  against  whom  I  plead 
is  granted,  I  behold  this  respectable  asylum,  this  seat  of  har- 
mony and  bliss,  suddenly  filled  with  anxiety,  with  tears,  and 
with  the  outcries  of  despair.  Yonder  I  see  the  cottage  of  the 
poor.  I  see  an  infant  sucking  the  breast  of  his  mother, 
while  the  wearisome' and  almost  uninterrupted  labours  of  the 
father  procure  his  family  a  scanty  subsistence.  Though  they 
have  long  sighed  under  the  burdens  of  poverty,  they  have 
regarded  with  reverence  a  connection  which  they  had  vowed 
to  God  death  only  should  dissolve.  But  in  an  ill-fated  hour 
the  tidings  reach  them  that  it  is  more  honourable  and  pious 
to  break  off  than  to  continue  their  connection.  I  should 
never  end,  did  I  attempt  to  unfold  all  the  fatal  consequences 
of  annulling  the  marriages  of  the  desert.  Yes,  my  Lords! 
you  will  confirm  the  happiness  of  the  poor  children  here 
prostrate  before  you,  and  pleading,  Our  cruel  mother  has 
forsaken  us.  O  adopt  us  as  your  children!  Ah!  take  from 
us  our  substance;  only  leave  us  that  inestimable  treasure — 
the  tender-hearted  father  who  loves  us.  He  beholds  our 
tears:  he  mingles  with  them  his  own.  With  transport  he 
presses  us  to  his  breast,  and  cries,  God  preserve  you,  my 
dear  children,  my  only  hope,  my  only  happiness.  O  our 
judges  !  deprive  us  not  of  this  worthy,  this  virtuous,  this 
best  of  parents.  So  wmU  we  bless  you.  And  your  decision, 
approved  of  by  your  country,  shall  be  transmitted  from  age 
to  age,  as  a  lasting  monument  of  your  wisdom." 

Maser,  the  king's  counsel  on  the  other  side,  admitted  the 
force  of  these  pleadings,  and  was  glad,  by  some  technicality, 
to  get  the  case  postponed.  The  Court  afterwards  put  a  stop 
to  it  by  a  compromise,  which  left  the  Protestants  under  the 
impression  that  their  marriages  were  tacitly  sanctioned  by 
law.  It  is  interesting  to  hear  the  testimony  which  the  king's 
counsel,  Roman  Catholic  though  he  was,  bore  to  the  cha- 
racter of  the  Protestants.  He  speaks  of  the  Protestants  as 
men  who  loved  order  and  peace,  who  zealously  promoted 
the  public  welfare,  and  wiio  atoned  for  their  errors  by  their 
virtues.  And,  in  conclusion,  after  addressing  the  many 
Protestants  in  the  assembly  to  dismiss  their  fears  of  a  sen- 
tence which  might  deeply  wound  iheir  dearest  interests,  he 
says, — 


OF    FRANCE. 


425 


"  France  will  never  forget  that  in  a  tempestuous  season 
you  fastened  the  pillars  of  the  tottering  monarchy,  and  raised 
to  the  throne,  when  fanatics  would  have  deprived  him  of  it, 
that  pattern  of  princes,  whose  name  excites  the  most  pleasant 
emotions  in  the  heart  of  every  Frenchman — Henry  IV. 
From  the  grave  where  his  ashes  rest,  his  shade  watches  over 
your  destiny.     He  is  risen  T^ 

Here  the  judgment-hall  resounded  with  the  shouts  and  ac- 
clamations of  Protestants.  In  the  meantime,  their  enemies 
wrote  to  Court,  that  the  Protestants  in  Languedoc  had  begun 
an  insurrection,  and  pressed  by  thousands  to  the  judgment- 
hall,  and  that  Troussel  and  Maser  were  at  their  head  and  in 
their  pay. 

When  the  Protestants  were  suffering  so  much  in  connec- 
tion with  their  marriages,  it  may  be  noticed,  that  the  royal 
marriage  of  the  Dauphin,  the  Due  de  Berri,  to  Maria  Antoi- 
nette of  the  house  of  Austria,  in  1770,  was  conducted  with 
extravagance  almost  beyond  conception.  It  is  said  that 
thirty  thousand  horses  were  employed  in  her  journey,  and 
sixty  new  carriages  formed  part  of  her  train  from  Strasburg 
to  Paris,  and  this  when  the  country  was  suffering  under  a 
general  exhaustion.  How  melancholy  was  the  dissolution 
of  their  marriage !  It  was  not  a  legal  suit,  but  the  guillotine 
of  the  Revolution  which  separated  them. 

After  so  long  contemplating  the  horrors  of  persecution,  it 
is  gratifying  to  perceive  and  record  the  dawn  of  more  tolerant 
days.  The  old  laws  of  oppression  might  remain  unrepealed, 
and  the  Protestants  be  exposed  to  the  hazard  of  their  execu- 
tion, wherever  a  violent  Roman  Catholic,  whether  priest  or 
layman,  chose  to  call  for  their  application.  Still  there  was 
a  general  and  growing  improvement  in  the  circumstances  of 
the  Reformed:  their  meetings  for  public  worship  were  con- 
nived at  and  some  of  the  worst  forms  of  persecution  allowed 
to  go  into  desuetude.  So  recently,  indeed,  as  1767,  the  Par- 
liament of  Grenoble  condemned  a  minister  to  death  for  preach- 
ing in  the  open  air;  and  because  he  could  not  be  found,  burnt 
him  in  effigy.  Five  years  before,  Mr.  Rochelle  was  execu- 
ted at  Toulouse;  but  this  seems  to  have  been  the  last  year  of 
persecution  unto  death.  Various  circumstances  led  to  this 
milder  treatment.  The  Jesuits,  the  most  formidable  enemies 
of  the  Reformed  Church,  had  been  deposed  from  power  in 
this  year,  as  a  society  of  men  who,  from  their  proved  com- 
mercial delinquencies  on  a  vast  scale,  were  dangerous  subjects 
of  the  State.     Louis  XV.  had  died  in  1774,  of  disease  con- 


426  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

tracted  in  his  guilty  pleasures,  and  had  been  succeeded  by 
Louis  XVI.,  the  unhappy  king  who  afterwards  lost  his  life  in 
the  revolutionary  frenzy.  This  monarch  was  much  milder, 
and  more  retired  and  literary  in  his  character  than  his  pre- 
decessor, and  more  disposed  to  regard  the  privileges  of 
others.  Indeed,  on  various  occasions,  he  showed  strong 
leanings  toward  toleration,  and  was  only  prevented  by  his 
circumstances  from  making  them  more  effectual.  Then  the 
appointment  of  Neckar,  a  Swiss  and  a  Protestant,  as  Direc- 
tor of  the  Royal  Treasury,  in  1776,  an  appointment  called 
for  by  the  financial  ditTiculties  of  the  country,  as  well  as  the 
success  of  his  economical  plans,  had  an  influence  favourable 
to  the  Protestant  cause.  In  addition  to  these  things,  in- 
fidelity had  now  been  busily  at  work  for  between  thirty  and 
forty  years,  and  was  beginning  to  bear  fruit.  Not  that  in- 
fidels had  any  alliance  with,  or  liking  to.  Protestantism  (his- 
tory proves  that  they  are  among  the  most  merciless  of  per- 
secutors,) but  the  better  to  difluse  their  poison,  they  spoke 
much  of  liberty  and  toleration.  So  early  as  1746,  Diderot 
had  published  his  "Pensees  Philosophiques,"  which  were 
considered  one  of  the  most  direct  attacks  ever  levelled  against 
the  Christian  religion  in  France ;  and  the  labours  of  his  co- 
adjutors, Voltaire,  Rousseau,  Buffon,  D'Alembert,  Montes- 
quieu, and  their  great  common  work,  the  "Encylopedie,"  ail 
wrought  in  the  same  direction.  Voltaire's  works  in  behalf 
of  toleration,  which  were  dictated  not  by  the  love  of  man, 
but  by  hatred  of  the  clergy,  were  amazingly  popular,  and 
exerted  a  very  powerful  influence.  The  infidelity  was  ex- 
ceedingly wide  spread  and  virulent.  "  When  I  myself  was 
in  France  in  1774,"  says  Dr.  Priestly,  "I  saw  sufficient 
reason  to  believe  that  hardly  any  person  of  eminence  in 
Church  or  State,  and  especially  in  a  great  degree  eminent  in 
philosophy  or  literature — whose  opinions,  in  all  countries, 
are  sooner  or  later  adopted — were  believers  in  Christianity; 
and  no  person  will  suppose  that  there  has  been  any  change 
in  favour  of  Christianity  in  the  last  twenty  years."  He 
writes,  in  1794 — "A  person,  1  believe  now  living,  and  one 
of  the  best  informed  men  in  the  country,  assured  me  very 
gravely,  that  (paying  me  a  compliment,)  I  was  the  first  per- 
son he  had  ever  met  with,  of  whose  understanding  he  had 
any  opinion,  who  pretended  to  believe  Christianity.  To 
this  all  the  company  assented.  And  not  only  were  the  phi- 
losophers, and  other  leading  men  in  France,  at  that  time  un- 
believers in  Christianity,  or  Deists,   but  Atheists,  denying 


OF  FRANCE.  427 

the  being  of  a  God."  The  only  objection  which  the  literati 
and  philosophers  of  France  had  to  David  Hume,  the  most 
subtile  of  modern  infidels,  when  he  visited  their  country,  was 
his  remaining  "  fanatacism,"  in  believing  in  the  existence  of 
a  Supreme  Being!  Such  infidel  influences,  by  sapping  the 
power  of  Popery,  more  than  by  any  assistance  which  they 
rendered  to  the  Protestants,  were  overruled,  as  instruments 
in  the  hand  of  God,  for  the  protection  and  milder  treatment 
of  his  own  Church. 

The  progress  to  greater  toleration  of  which  I  speak,  may 
be  traced  in  the  fact  that,  in  1787,  or  twelve  years  from  the 
accession  of  Louis  XVI.,  an  edict  was  granted  favourable  to 
the  Protestants,  in  virtue  of  which  they  could  assemble  for 
public  worship,  enjoy  their  property  in  peace,  and  transmit 
it  to  their  children.  This  important  protection  was  not  sanc- 
tioned without  considerable  opposition  from  the  Parliament. 
One  ardent  member  started  up,  and  presenting  a  crucifix, 
asked  if  they  were  going  to  crucify  the  Son  of  God  afresh? 
The  favourable  result  was  the  work,  in  a  great  degree,  of 
Rabaut  de  St.  Etienne,  an  eminent  Protestant  minister,  the 
tried  friend,  through  many  years,  of  the  suffering  Church. 
As  might  have  been  expected,  the  protective  edict,  so  differ- 
ent from  those  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  for  nearly 
two  hundred  years,  was  received  by  the  Protestants  with  the 
greatest  thankfulness  and  joy.  No  sooner  was  the  Reform- 
ed Church  publicly  recognized,  than  multitudes  ranged  them- 
selves under  its  standard.  Vast  crowds — it  is  said  not  less 
than  one  million  of  persons — hastened  to  the  houses  of  the 
judges  to  have  their  births  and  marriages  registered.  Fre- 
quently aged  men  were  seen  registering  their  own  birth,  and 
that  of  their  children  and  grandchildren  together.  Such  was 
the  pressure  of  the  crowd,  that  it  was  necessary  for  the 
judges  to  spread  themselves  over  the  country  to  avoid  it,  and 
probably  also  to  avoid  collision  with  the  more  intolerant  Ro- 
man Catholics. 

And  now  the  Revolution  drew  on.  In  the  National  As- 
sembly of  1789,  it  was  decreed,  in  the  Declaration  of  Rights, 
that  "  all  the  citizens  are  equal  in  the  eye  of  law,  and  are 
equally  admissible  to  all  dignities,  places,  and  public  employ- 
ments, without  any  distinction  but  that  of  their  virtues  and 
talents."  Rabaut,  the  great  and  good  man  to  whom  1  have 
referred,  had  been  returned  a  member  of  Assembly,  and 
spoke  long  and  ably  in  behalf  of  liberty  of  conscience.  "  I 
demand,"  says  he,  "  for  all  the  non-Catholics  what  you  de- 


428  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

mand  for  yourselves — equality  of  rights — liberty,  the  liberty 
of  their  religion,  the  liberty  of  their  worship,  the  liberty  of 
celebrating  it  in  houses  consecrated  for  that  purpose — the  as- 
surance of  not  being  troubled  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion 
any  more  than  you  are  in  yours,  and  the  perfect  assurance 
of  being  protected  like  you,  as  much  as  you,  and  in  the  same 
manner  as  you,  by  the  common  law."  "I  suppress  a  crowd 
of  motives,  which  should  render  two  million  of  unfortunates 
interesting  and  dear  to  you:  they  could  present  themselves 
to  you  yet  stained  with  the  blood  of  their  fathers,  and  they 
could  show  you  the  marks  of  their  own  fetters."  In  the 
course  of  a  few  months,  and  won  by  the  labours  and  elo- 
quence of  this  pastor,  the  Protestants  were  admitted  to  the 
rights  of  electors,  and  to  a  share  in  all  civil  and  military  em- 
ployments. On  the  10th  of  July,  1790,  the  confiscated 
property  of  the  Reformed  Church,  which  remained  in  the 
hands  of  Government,  was  restored ;  the  heirs  and  claimants 
were  invited  to  make  good  their  claims,  and  the  fugitives  or 
their  heirs  solicited  to  return.  These  were  happy  steps  of 
progress,  and  good  men  might  rejoice  and  hope  that  the 
complete  deliverance  of  the  Protestant  Church  had  come; 
but,  alas!  the  triumph  of  infidelity  was  at  hand.  She  is  the 
severest  of  despots.  Speedily  was  it  found  that  the  liberty 
which  had  been  advancing  was  based  on  unsound  principle — 
unsanctioned  by  the  Word  of  God;  and  so,  scarcely  had  it 
reared  its  head  before  it  perished  in  the  dark  waters  of  revo- 
lution. In  1790  the  Protestants  might  be  said  to  be  free. 
In  eighteen  months  the  Christian  religion,  whether  Protest- 
ant or  Popish,  was  proscribed,  and  all  the  institutions  of 
Christianity  trampled  under  the  feet  of  the  most  unrelenting 
persecution.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Infi- 
delity and  Atheism. 

Decided  as  was  the  improvement  which  was  introduced 
into  the  condition  of  the  Protestants,  during  the  reign  of 
Louis  XVI.,  down  to  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution, 
I  am  anxious  to  guard  the  reader  against  the  idea  that  the 
toleration  was  steady  or  unbroken.  No.  It  was  at  best  pre- 
carious— depending  chiefly  on  the  good  feeling  of  individu- 
als, and  every  now  and  then  there  was  an  attempt  at  revived 
persecution.  What,  indeed,  could  be  expected  of  a  coun- 
try which,  in  a  population  of  little  more  than  twenty  mil- 
lions, could  boast  of  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  Popish 
ecclesiastics,  male  and  female?  At  the  very  time  that  the 
monarch  was  showing  kindness,  at  least  forbearing  cruelty, 


OF    FRANCE.  429 

to  the  Reformed  Church,  as  in  1775,  there  was  an  attempt 
to  restore  the  Jesuits;  and,  contemporaneous  with  this,  there 
was  an  endeavour  to  revive  the  oppression  of  the  Protestants. 
Nay,  in  1782,  shortly  before  the  favourable  edict  was  pass- 
ed, and  in  1788,  just  after  it  had  been  enacted,  and  when 
the  doom  of  so  many  of  the  Popish  clergy  was  fast  ap- 
proaching, we  find  the  old  spirit  of  persecution  strong  at 
work.  In  the  one  case,  the  religious  society  of  Dieppe  was 
served  with  a  lettre  de  cachet,  and  for  three  months  the 
churches  of  several  provinces  were  sliut  up.  In  the  other, 
M.  Mordaunt,  the  pastor  at  Dieppe,  though  he  had  attended 
to  all  the  prescribed  formalities,  was  seized  by  warrant  for 
celebrating  a  marriage.  What  does  all  this  show,  but  that 
the  toleration  which  Popery  or  Infidelity  permits  is  incon- 
sistent and  insecure,  even  where  it  boasts  of  edicts  and  legal 
instruments? 

And  now  we  must  turn  back  and  contemplate  the  spiritual 
character  of  the  Protestant  Church  during  the  latter  period 
of  the  century  which  we  have  been  surveying.  We  have 
seen  that,  in  point  of  numbers,  they  were  still  very  consider- 
able— that  some  estimated  them  so  high  as  between  three 
and  four  millions  —  a  sixth  part  of  the  whole  population 
of  France.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  Protestants 
were  numerous.  It  was  not  uncommon  for  five  or  six  thou- 
sand to  attend  upon  the  ordinary  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
under  one  minister,  and  eight  or  ten  thousand  to  assemble 
for  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  But  whatever 
might  be  their  numbers,  truth  compels  us  reluctantly  to 
declare  they  had  decHned,  and  were  declining  still  more 
in  their  Christian  attainments.  There  were  various  adverse 
causes  in  operation.  The  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes 
had  driven  the  largest  body  of  the  spiritual  and  devoted 
into  exile.  This  was  a  sad  loss,  the  magnitude  of  which 
it  would  not  be  easy  to  estimate.  Then,  men  of  political 
feeling  were  attracted  by  sympathy,  and  a  spirit  of  pride 
and  resistance,  to  join  the  suffering  Church; — these  were 
comparatively  ignorant,  uninfluenced  by  the  higher  mo- 
tives of  Christianity,  and  must  have  deteriorated  its  cha- 
racter. There  is  generally  such  a  party  in  times  of  persecu- 
tion— men  of  mere  feeling  and  policy,  who  need  to  be  as 
much  guarded  against  as  the  oppressor.  Next,  the  circum- 
stances of  the  Protestants  were  exceedingly  unfavourable  to 
the  exercise  of  Church  discipline.  The  courts  of  judicature 
were  not  permitted  to  meet;  national  Synods  did  not  assem- 


430 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


ble  for  twelve,  and  in  some  cases  twenty  years.  In  the 
meantime,  great  neglect  or  serious  errors  might  prevail  in 
particular  districts,  but  there  was  no  authority  to  detect  and 
check  the  evil.  The  few  ministers  who  still  remained  were 
left  to  themselves,  without  the  counsel  or  support  of  regu- 
larly constituted  courts.  Then,  the  provision  for  the  instruc- 
tion, not  only  of  the  people,  but  also  of  the  ministry,  was 
very  inadequate.  The  people  were  not  allowed  to  have  pub- 
lic schools,  and  the  circulation  of  books  among  them  was 
equally  forbidden.  Hence  the  great  body  could  not  but  be- 
come ignorant.  In  the  same  proportion  must  their  religion 
have  declined,  and  they  themselves  become  the  easier  prey 
of  superstition  or  infidelity,  both  of  which  were  in  active 
operation  in  the  country.  After  the  persecution  in  Scot- 
land, as  we  had  occasion  to  notice,  a  large  body  of  the 
people  were  found  in  great  ignorance,  the  slaves  of  various 
superstitions  and  no  small  immorality.  With  regard,  again, 
to  the  French  pastors,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Less,  speaking  from 
the  testimony  of  Rabaut  and  his  own  observation  in  1774, 
says — 

"  Through  the  want  of  ordinary  schools,  their  clergy  know 
little  Latin,  no  Greek,  and  are  strangers  to  the  writings  of 
the  ancients.  Having  no  academies  for  educating  their 
clergy,  those  designed  for  the  sacred  office  receive  their 
first  instructions  from  som.e  minister,  and  then  go  to  a  semi- 
nary at  Lausanne  for  Protestant  ministers  in  France.  After 
a  slight  and  short  course  of  study  they  are  ordained,  and  re- 
turn to  their  native  country  destitute  of  any  learned  know- 
ledge of  religion;  so  that  in  a  Church  that  could  boast  of 
Amyraldus,  Capellus,  &c.,  perhaps  there  are  not  now  three 
clergymen  who  can  understand,  or  even  read,  the  Bible  in 
the  original  languages." 

The  seminary  at  Lausanne,  highly  creditable  as  it  was  in 
its  own  place,  could  not  supply  a  substitute  for  the  distin- 
guished colleges  and  universities  of  earlier  days.  It  was  but 
a  private  institution,  upheld  by  the  bounty  of  foreign  Chris- 
tians. The  whole  number  of  pupils,  when  visited  by  Dr. 
Less  in  1775,  was  only  twenty-two,  and  the  professors  three: 
the  annual  expense — the  students  being  maintained  as  well 
as  educated — six  thousand  rix  dollars.  It  would  have  been 
idle  to  expect  tlie  ministry  of  a  great  Christian  Church  to  be 
upheld  in  any  thing  like  efficiency  under  such  tuition  as  this. 
Accordingly,  the  pastors,  limited  as  they  were  in  number, 
degenerated  seriously  in  character,  and  with  them  the  peo- 


OF    FRANCE. 


431 


pie.  Indeed,  with  an  uneducated  clergy,  and  the  other  un- 
favourable influences  which  have  been  adverted  to,  it  would 
have  been  strange  if  the  Reformed  Church  of  France  had 
retained  its  former  character  and  power.  The  wonder  rather 
is,  that  it  did  not  fall  earlier  and  more  disastrously.  Dr.  Less, 
describing  the  people  and  pastors  generally,  says — 

"From  this  imperfect  preparation  under  their  teachers, 
it  cannot  be  expected  that  the  state  of  the  Protestants  in 
France  should  be  very  flourishing.  Exclusion  from  all  offices 
in  the  State  has  diminished  them  more  than  a  violent  perse- 
cution would  have  done.  Among  them,  too,  as  well  as 
amons^  Roman  Catholics,  the  writings  of  Voltaire  and  Rous- 
seau have  diff'used  the  poison  of  infidelity,  or  of  indifference 
to  religion;  and  Protestant  advocates,  without  scruple,  pro- 
cure from  priests  false  attestations  of  their  having  confessed 
and  attended  mass,  that  they  may  not  be  debarred  from 
pleading  before  the  tribunals.  The  lives  and  possessions  of 
Protestant  preachers  not  being  protected  by  law,  lie  at  the  mer- 
cy of  every  vile  informer.  Their  salaries  are  small,  the  high- 
est not  exceeding  two  hundred  and  fifty  rix  dollars.  Hence 
their  preachers  are  men  of  the  lowest  rank,  of  mean  educa- 
tion, and  often  do  more  hurt  by  their  bad  morals,  than  they 
do  service  by  their  very  defective  instructions.  Attendance 
on  public  worship,  zeal  for  a  religion  of  which  they  know 
little  more  than  the  name,  and  liberality  to  the  poor,  are  by 
most  of  their  hearers  deemed  sufl^icient  to  constitute  them 
good  Christians.  Still,  however,  there  are  among  them 
some  illustrious  characters,  to  which  the  reading  of  the  Bible, 
and  books  of  devotion,  as  well  as  the  instructions  of  their 
preacJjers,  greatly  contribute;  and,  in  general,  there  is  a  dif- 
ference of  conduct  in  them,  and  in  their  Catholic  neighbours, 
much  in  their  favour." 

The  same  author  furnishes  us  with  a  fine  picture  of  the 
able  Protestant  pastor  in  Mr.  Rabaut,  of  whom  he  gives  the 
following  interesting  account : 

"  Paul  Rabaut,  the  eldest  of  the  three  clergymen  at  Nismes, 
is  their  most  respectable  clergyman.  Learning  is  not  to  be 
expected  in  one  of  so  narrow  an  education,  and  constantly 
engaged  in  such  a  variety  of  labours.  But  his  talents  are 
great,  his  judgment  quick  and  solid,  and  his  knowledge  of 
religion  and  of  the  sciences  so  profitably  applied,  that  few 
of  the  most  learned  are  equally  useful  in  their  stations  as  he 
is  in  his.  His  merits  have  impressed  me  with  an  indelible 
respect;  though  1  had  that  near  view  of  them,  from  which 


432  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

even  the  most  shining  characters  generally  lose  something 
of  their  lustre.  To  him  the  preservation  of  Protestants  in 
France  has  been  chiefly  owing.  His  whole  life  has  been 
a  constant  sacrifice  to  the  interests  of  religion.  He  devoted 
himself  to  the  pastoral  office  at  a  time  of  violent  persecution, 
when  he  had  every  thing  to  dread.  With  an  income  which 
scarce  furnishes  him  the  necessaries  of  subsistence,  in  the 
midst  of  difficulties,  and  in  a  thousand  instances  with  the 
hazard  of  his  life,  he  has  performed,  in  the  most  disinterest- 
ed manner,  the  laborious  duties  of  his  function.  For  many 
years  he  was  nowhere  safe,  not  even  in  his  own  house. 
Soldiers  came  suddenly  both  by  day  and  by  night,  surround- 
ed his  house,  and  searched  for  him.  Every  trick  was  used  for 
seizing  and  getting  rid  of  one  justly  viewed  as  the  chief  sup- 
port of  Protestantism.  Every  where  surrounded  by  spies, 
and  every  moment  in  danger,  he  usually  performed  his  mi- 
nisterial duties  only  in  the  night ;  or  if  it  was  needful  in  the 
day,  he  disguised  himself  as  a  bricklayer  or  a  stocking- 
weaver.  Often  he  \vas  obliged  to  leave  his  house,  and  to 
lie  whole  days  and  nights  in  the  open  fields,  or  in  some  re- 
mote pitiful  hut,  certain  that,  if  seized,  he  must  instantly 
suffer  an  ignominious  death.  In  these  dangers  his  only  hu- 
man security  was  the  fidelity  of  his  flock.  They  constantly 
watched  over  him,  and  at  the  first  approach  of  hazard  gave 
him  warning.  He  assured  me,  that  he  often  escaped  by  se- 
cret forebodings  of  the  designs  of  his  enemies.  One  night, 
at  supper,  he  felt  a  sudden  and  almost  irresistible  impulse  to 
leave  his  own  house,  and  to  sleep  somewhere  else.  Accord- 
ingly he  left  it,  though  his  wife  entreated  liim  to  stay,  as 
there  was  not  the  least  appearance  of  danger.  Next  morn- 
ing he  was  informed,  that  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, a  detachment  of  soldiers  had  surrounded  his  house,  and 
searched  for  him.  1  the  rather  regard  these  accounts,  as  I 
never  knew  a  man  further  from  enthusiasm.  The  lustre  of 
his  other  virtues  was  increased  by  his  unaffected  modesty. 
Though  rich  in  deeds  which  command  respect,  he  used  no 
art  to  display  them,  and  spoke  as  little  of  them  as  if  he  had 
no  concern  in  them.  This,  however,  rendered  their  influ- 
ence more  irresistible.  The  Protestants  honoured  him  as  a 
parent.  Nay,  so  great  was  his  authority,  both  with  Catho- 
lics and  Protestants,  that  no  day  passed  in  which  he  was  not 
employed  as  an  arbiter;  and  more  processes  were  ended  in 
his  house  liian  were  brought  before  the  tribunals  of  the  city." 
There  can  be  no  question  that  there  were  many  faithful 


or    FRANCE. 


433 


men — men  whose  preaching  was  in  full  correspondence  with 
the  standards  of  the  Church,  and  who  rejoiced  to  spend  and 
be  spent  for  Christ;  but  the  state  of  things  brought  about  by 
the  various  adverse  elements  to  which  I  have  adverted,  was 
favourable  to  coldness  and  indifference,  and  to  the  introduc- 
tion and  spread  of  dangerous  error.  Accordingly,  such 
seems  to  have  been  the  prevailing  character  of  the  Protestant 
Church  during  the  seventeen  years  which  preceded  the  Re- 
volution. The  infidelity  of  the  philosophers,  diffused  with 
amazing  activity  and  vast  pecuniary  sacrifices — it  is  said 
^600,000 — through  the  medium  of  cheap  publications,  ope- 
rating upon  minds  which  had  been  deprived  of  suitable  pas- 
toral instruction,  naturally  exalted  human  reason  to  an  undue 
place  in  religion.  This,  again,  in  its  turn,  opened  the  door 
to  Arminianism,  which  had  appeared  before  the  dispersion, 
occasioned  by  the  recall  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  but  which 
now  verged  to  Socinianism,  and  occasionally,  perhaps,  passed 
into  it.  The  progress  was  the  more  easy,  that,  in  many 
cases,  the  life  of  spiritual  religion  had  departed,  and  left  no- 
thing but  the  forms  of  a  dead  orthodoxy  behind ;  and  then 
the  Presbyterian  Church  government  of  the  Reformed  Church 
was  in  abeyance,  indeed  might  practically  be  said  to  have 
no  existence.  Hence  there  was  no  befitting  authority  to 
check  error,  and  arouse  the  negligent  to  their  duty.  Pro- 
testants might  rejoice  in  the  freedom  which  infidels  promised 
them ;  but  the  instrument  of  their  partial  deliverance  was  a 
dangerous  one,  and  soon  passed  into  a  most  grinding  tyranny. 
How  different  the  position  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  this 
country!  Her  deliverance  was  brought  about,  not  by  the 
hazardous  aid  of  infidelity  in  any  degree,  but  by  religious 
principle  and  religious  agents,  and  hence  her  freedom  has 
been  stable.  I  do  not  say  that  the  Protestants  of  France 
courted  the  infidels,  or  asked  their  allegiance;  but  the  amount 
of  infidelity  then  in  the  country,  and  the  channels  in  which 
it  was  running,  and  the  names  which  it  assumed,  were  all 
most  injurious  to  the  Protestant  cause,  and  fitted  to  deterio- 
rate the  high  evangelical  character  for  which  it  had  been  dis- 
tinguished. It  leavened  the  mind  and  taste,  even  of  the 
well-disposed,  without  their  being  aware  of  it.  Never  should 
it  be  forgotten,  that  infidel  principles  are  a  poison,  and  act 
like  the  most  insidious  of  poisons,  as  weli  as  the  most  viru- 
lent. 

Many  are  so  impressed  with  the  notion,  that  a  persecuted 
Church  must  ever  be  a  pure  Church,  they  may  be  indisposed 

28 


434  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

to  believe  that  the  Protestants,  while  still  suffering,  had  lost 
so  much  of  their  living  Christianity  as  I  have  described;  but 
the  fact  is  certain,  and  strange  to  say,  the  deterioration  was 
not  confined  to  those  who  remained  at  home;  the  refugees 
who  fled  to  Holland,  and  other  lands,  shared  in  the  same  de- 
generacy. It  is  a  melancholy  truth,  that  the  sermons  of  the 
Walloon  ministers,  published  in  Holland  towards  the  end  of 
the  last  century,  as  well  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  present, 
though  not  without  merit,  present  a  sad  decline  in  tone, 
and  spirit,  and  doctrine,  from  other  days.  These  sermons 
are  exceedingly  numerous:  many  congregations  apparently 
making  it  a  regular  practice  to  publish  several  volumes  of  the 
discourses  of  their  deceased  pastors ;  so  that  it  is  easier  to 
draw  a  general  inference  as  to  the  prevailing  character  of  the 
preaching.  While  their  advantages  were  superior  in  many 
respects  to  those  of  their  brethren  who  remained  in  France — 
while  they  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  clerical  education,  and 
regular  Church  government,  still  they  felt  the  benumbing  in- 
fluence of  the  same  infidelity.  The  memory  of  former  per- 
secution, and  the  enjoyment  of  present  blessings,  were  not 
a  sufficient  safeguard  against  its  power.  The  grand  error 
of  their  preaching  lay  in  light  views  of  Christ — of  his  sacri- 
fice and  salvation — a  forgetfulness  of  the  Holy  Spirit — of  the 
absolute  necessity  of  his  regenerating  and  sanctifying  grace. 
Of  course  with  this  was  conjoined  a  high  idea  of  the  reason 
and  moral  power  of  man ;  in  short,  infidelity  applied  to  the 
doctrines  of  revelation,  while  the  divine  origin  of  revelation 
itself  was  admitted. 

I  do  not  know  whether,  even  with  these  explanations,  the 
reader  will  be  prepared  for  the  appalling  fact,  that  such  had 
been  the  decline  of  religion  among  the  Protestants  of  France 
at  the  period  of  the  Revolution,  that  several  of  the  pastors 
publicly  abjured  Christianity  as  a  lie.  It  is  well  known  that 
not  a  few  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  did  so,  and  we  do 
not  greatly  wonder  at  this.  It  is  to  be  feared  very  many  of 
them  were  and  are  infidels,  and  wear  the  sacerdotal  habit 
merely  for  secular  ends.  Popery  and  infidelity — the  believ- 
ing too  much,  and  the  not  believing  at  all — have  always  gone 
together.  Indeed,  in  an  age  of  any  light,  it  cannot  be  other- 
wise; but  it  was  a  new  thing  for  Protestant  ministers  to  be 
found  in  the  open  ranks  of  infidelity.  Yet  so  it  was.  Two 
representatives  of  the  people  at  Rochefort  wrote  to  the  Con- 
vention in  October,  1793,  that  eight  Popish  priests,  and 
a  ProUatant  minister ,  "  had  abjured  their  errors  in  the  tern- 


OF    FRANCE. 


435 


pie  of  truth,  formerly  the  parish  church,  and  had  promised 
to  teach  nothing  but  morality,  and  the  hatred  of  all  religious 
tyranny.  They  confirmed  their  oath,  by  burning  their  let- 
ters of  ordination  amid  the  mixed  acclamations  of  both 
Catholics  and  Protestants:'  On  the  7th  of  November,  Go- 
bet,  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the 
Convention,  attended  by  his  vicar,  eight  rectors,  and  a  Pro- 
testant  minister  of  the  name  of  Julien — fit  name  for  such  an 
apostate.  They  all  not  only  abjured  their  sacred  offices,  but 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  On  the  14th  of  the  same  month, 
Morron,  the  Protestant  pastor  of  St.  Thomas  de  Louvre,  in 
Paris,  deposited  on  the  table  of  the  Commons,  four  silver 
cups,  which  had  been  used  in  administering  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, adding  these  words:  "  They  served  our  worship;  but 
prejudice,  and  sometimes  reason,  reproached  us  with  the  ex- 
treme folly  of  using  them."  It  were  easy  to  multiply  these 
horrifying  details,  especially  as  regarded  the  Popish  clergy; 
but  the  specimen  is  more  than  sufficient.  It  clearly  proves 
how  sad  was  the  degeneracy  which  had  overshadowed  the 
Protestant  Church,  when  any  of  her  ministers,  or  professed 
people,  could  be  guilty  of  such  moral  atrocities.  The  great 
body  of  the  pastors  may  have  held  these  outbursts  of  infidel- 
ity in  abhorrence.  Indeed,  the  Protestants  who  would  not 
go  the  length  of  the  Revolutionists,  were  subjected  to  the 
crudest  treatment.  In  the  department  of  Gard  alone,  the 
slaughter  was  wide-spread.  During  the  reign  of  terror,  the 
Protestants  were  as  much  oppressed  and  persecuted  as  the 
Roman  Catholics.  This  is  apparent  from  the  religious  pro- 
fession of  those  who  were  guillotined.  Of  one  party  of  suf- 
ferers, Lauze  de  Peret  gives  the  following  summary: — 
ninety-one  Roman  Catholics,  forty-six  Protestants,  and  one 
Jew — showing  a  higher  proportion  of  Protestants  than 
others.  Nothing,  then,  can  be  more  unreasonable  than  to  de- 
nounce them  as  Jacobins  and  Revolutionists.  It  is  to  be  re- 
membered, too,  that  the  eminent  Protestant  minister,  Paul 
Rabaut,  was,  by  order  of  the  Convention,  arrested,  and  sent 
to  prison  on  an  ass,  being  too  aged  and  infirm  to  walk;  and 
that  it  was  only  the  fall  of  Robespierre  which  saved  him 
from  the  guillotine,  at  nearly  eighty  years  of  age — a  doom 
which  overtook  his  son,  also  a  minister  and  a  scholar,  a  few 
months  before  the  venerable  father  died  in  his  own  house  at 
Nismes.  The  wretched  facts,  however,  which  we  have  been 
reviewing,  proclaim  the  progress  and  the  power  of  infidelity 
even  in  the  Protestant  Church ;   and  ere  this  result  could 


436  PROTESTANT   CHURCH 

have  been  reached,  we  may  be  sure  both  irreligion  and  error 
must  have  attained  an  unhappy  sway.  It  is  a  fallen  Chris- 
tianity which  is  the  grand  pioneer  of  infidelity. 


CONTEMPORANEOUS    HISTORY    OF    THE    CHURCH   OF 
SCOTLAND,  FROM  1755  TO  1792. 

In  the  last  chapter  on  the  history  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, the  melancholy  change  which  came  over  her  character 
and  operations  was  shortly  described.     It  is  matter  of  deep 
regret,  that  the  present  chapter  must  deal  in  a  similar  des- 
cription.    There  was  no  favourable  change.     Our  remarks 
will  necessarily  be  brief.  The  Church,  as  a  Christian  Church, 
was  so  cold  and  dead,  that  she  has  left  little  or  nothing  to 
record.    A  desert  is  much  more  easily  and  quickly  described 
than  a  richly  cultivated  country.      The  Secession  of  1733 
had  grown  rapidly,  and  there  had  been  a  formidable  Popish 
rebellion  in  1745.     Still  there  was  no  relaxation  in  the  en- 
forcement of  the  disastrous  Patronage  Act  of  1711.     There 
may   have  been  occasional  compromises  of  difficult  cases, 
but  where  the  patron  and  presentee  assert  their  claims,  the 
Church  enforces  them  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet:  the  evil 
continues  and  deepens,  and  the  cold  irreligion  of  the  Church 
grows  apace.  There  is  a  fresh  secession  from  the  Establish- 
ment in  1761,  solely  on  the  score  of  the  rigorous  and  intol- 
erable exercise  of  lay  patronage,  hence  taking  the  name  of 
the  Relief.     This  party  have  now  risen  to  nearly  one  hun- 
dred congregations,  a  more  numerous  body  than  the  Roman 
Catholics  or  the  Episcopalians,  who  could  once  call  the  Es- 
tablished Church  their  own:  so  great  is  the  evil  which  crea- 
ted them.    Divisions  among  the  seceding  Presbyterians  gave 
no  strength  to  the  Church — they  weakened  her  the  more  as 
each  party  required  to  collect  adherents  from  her  pale  to  sup- 
port  its  separate  interests.     Matters  became  so  formidable 
about    1766,  from  the  spread   of  dissent,    that  efforts  were 
made  in  the  General  Assembly  after  milder  measures.    The 
near  balance  of  parties  in  the   Supreme   Court,   (99  to  85.) 
shows  that  a  large  body  of  sound  men  still  remained  in  the 
Establishment,  that  they  were  still  nearly  one-half;  and  for 
some  years  there  was  a  mitigation  of  the  severity  of  the  past 
procedure,  but  there  was  no  real  change  of  principle.     Dis- 
sent continued  to  swell,  and  all  the  more,  that  the  dominant 


OF    FRANCE.  437 

advocates  of  rigorous  patronage  now,  with  all  propriety,  be- 
came  the  protectors  of  scandalous  ministers,    whom    they 
ought  to  have  deposed  from  the  holy  ministry.    This  added 
to  the  disgust  of  the  people.     The  good  work  in  which  the 
General  Assembly  was  engaged  in  earlier  years,  in  planting 
schools  and  churches,  seems  in  a  great  measure  to  have  been 
arrested.  In  1758,  there  were  not  less  than  one  hundred  and 
eeventy-five  Highland  parishes,  in  which  not  so  much  as  one 
parochial  school  had  been  established;  and  if  in  a  depart- 
ment in  which  all  are  agreed,  even  those  who  are  little  in- 
fluenced by  religious  principle,  there  were  so  much  careless- 
ness and  failure  in  duty,  we  may  be  sure  that  in  departments 
more  strictly  Christian,  the   culpable  remissness  would  be 
still  more  flagrant.     The  religious  destitution  of  the  High- 
lands, as  appears  from  several  reports  to  the  Assembly  on 
the  subject  in  1766,  was  very  clamant,  but  no  steps  seem  to 
have  been  taken  to  meet  it.     Indeed  there  can  be  little  ques- 
tion, that  the  native  Popery,  instead  of  diminishing,  grew 
under  the  adverse  influences  which  have  been  referred  to. 
It  is  only  a  living  and  fervent  Gospel,  such  as  that  which 
was  wielded  by  the  Reformers  at  the  period  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, which  can  successfully  meet  it.     Besides,  a  Roman 
Catholic  scarcely  thinks  it  worth  while  to  change  from  the 
Arminianism  of  Popery  to  the  Arminianism  of  Protestant- 
ism: the  systems  are  substantially  the  same.     Hence  the 
Churches  of  the  Reformation,   after  they  became  infected 
with  cold  Arminianism,  made  no  head  against  Popery;  nay, 
the  Church  of  Rome  gained  fresh  adherents.     She  has  at- 
tractions to  boast  of  which  the  Arminian  school  in  the  Church 
of  Scotland  could  not  present.     The  well  authenticated  re- 
port of  the   "  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian 
Knowledge,"  in  1783,  certifies,  that  from  1750,  there  had 
been  an  increase  of  two  hundred  Roman  Catholics  in  the 
parish  of  Inveraven,  and  of  seventy-seven  in  that  of  Kirk- 
michael,  which  adjoins;  that  in  five  years,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  had  been  perverted  by  Popish  priests  in  the  parish  of 
Lochalsh,  and  that  not  a  year  passed  in  which  the  Society 
were  not  well  informed  of  the  progress  of  Popery  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the   Highlands.     Shordy  before  the  report  was 
drawn  up,  a  Popish  academy  was  established  at  North  Mo- 
rar,  for  the  education  of  priests,  and  almost  as  soon  as  open- 
ed, there  were  sixteen  students,  most  of  them  "  sons  of  gen- 
tlemen in  that  country.     Popish  schools  and  chapels  were 
also  multiplied."     The  Society  state,  that  their  information, 


438 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


on  the  best  authority,  leaves  no  room  to  doubt  that  the  evil, 
though  apparently  small,  is  real,  and  if  some  means  are  not 
employed  to  prevent  its  progress,  may  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years  become  truly  alarming.  One  important  mean  to  which 
the  Church  looked,  was,  as  has  been  already  hinted,  pubhc 
aid  out  of  the  forfeited  estates,  for  planting  new  churches  and 
parishes.  In  1761,  the  Assembly  corresponded  with  the 
Board  of  Estates  on  the  subject,  and  matters  proceeded  so 
far,  that  a  sum  of  £450  was  actually  set  apart  for  building  a 
church  and  manse  in  the  parish  of  Ardnamurchan ;  but  nei- 
ther have  been  erected  to  the  present  day.  The  Assembly 
was  referred  to  the  Treasury,  and  the  Treasury  had  no  money 
to  spare.  Perhaps  the  scarcity  of  funds  may  have  been 
owing  to  the  expenses  of  the  seven  years'  war  which  raged 
at  that  period.* 

At  the  same  time,  though  the  spiritual  character  of  the 
Church  was  clouded,  and  becoming  darker  and  darker,  there 
can  be  little  question  that  there  was  still  a  considerable  leaven 
of  sound  doctrine  and  true  piety,  even  in  the  worst  days. 
The  Church  of  Scotland  does  not  seem  ever  to  have  been 
abandoned  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  the  same  extent  in  which 
other  Churches  of  the  Reformation  were  deserted.  On  ex- 
amining her  acts  and  proceedings,  we  can  still  discover  some 
traces  of  life.  What  had  been  begun  in  better  days,  such  as 
bursaries,  and  Gaelic  missionaries,  and  collections  for  Chris- 

*  An  American  writer  gives  the  following  account  of  the  Seven 
Years'  War: — "This  war  raged  from  1756  to  1763,  and  almost  all 
the  European  powers  were  engaged  in  it.  It  originated  in  a  dispute 
between  England  and  France  relating  to  the  Canadas.  The  French 
encroached  on  a  tract  of  country  claimed  by  the  English,  in  the  wil- 
derness,  uncultivated  and  uninhabited,  excepting  by  savages ;  and 
this  war  has  often  been  called  '  a  strife  about  so  many  acres  of  snow.' 
The  miseries  which  it  occasioned  in  the  interior  of  Europe  have  been 
seldom  equalled ;  and  at  length  the  Grand  Signor  invited  the  Euro- 
pean  ministers  at  his  Court  to  hold  a  conference,  and  after  stating  to 
them  the  great  abhorrence  he  felt  at  the  bloody  war  thus  raging  be- 
tween so  many  Christian  nations,  offered  his  mediation  for  effecting 
a  general  peace.  The  offer  of  the  Mahommedan  peace-maker  was 
not  accepted,  but  rejected  with  pride  and  scorn,  and  hostilities  were 
commenced,  until  poverty  brought  peace.  The  war  was  represented 
by  historians  as  one  of  the  most  successful  that  England  was  ever 
engaged  in.  One  hundred  ships  of  war  were  taken  from  the  enemy 
or  destroyed,  and  X12,000,0U0  sterling  acquired  in  prize  money ;  but 
these  glorious  successes  cost  the  nation  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand  human  lives,  and  upwards  of  £111,000,000  sterling!  The 
slaughter  of  the  opponents  and  allies  of  Great  Britain,  in  this  dread- 
ful contest,  was  little  less  than  eight  hundred  thousand  men  I" 


OP    FKANCE.  439 

tian  objects,  schools,  and  churches,  and  foreign  Christians, 
seem  in  many  cases  to  have  been  kept  up.  In  all  proba- 
bility, the  faithful  minority  were  the  chief  contributors;  but 
in  addition,  there  was  a  Pastoral  Address  against  Infidelity; 
and  ministers  who  attended  the  theatre — among  whom  were 
some  of  the  leading  members  of  the  majority  in  the  General 
Assembly — were  sharply  censured,  and  steps  were  in  some 
cases  successfully  taken  for  the  protection  of  the  Sabbath ; 
and  a  few  chapels  of  ease  were  allowed  to  be  built,  reluctant- 
ly indeed,  in  such  a  way  as  greatly  to  lessen  their  influence; 
but  still  they  struggled  through,  and  retained  some  thousands 
within  the  pale  of  the  Establishment,  who  otherwise  would 
certainly  have  fallen  into  the  ranks  of  the  Secession,  or 
what  would  have  been  infinitely  worse,  into  the  hands  of 
irreligion  and  crime.  Much  of  the  remaining  good  which 
was  attempted  and  accomplished  by  the  faithful  ministers  and 
members  of  the  Church,  seems  to  have  been  through  the 
channel  of  the  "  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Chris- 
tian Knowledge."  This  Society,  embracing  many  of  the 
leading  and  religious  men  of  Scotland,  continued  its  labours 
through  the  coldest  and  darkest  days  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land. It  frequenUy  applied  for,  and  received,  contributions 
and  collections  for  its  two  great  objects — of  spreading  scrip- 
tural education  in  the  destitute  districts  at  home,  and  sending 
the  Gospel  to  the  savage  Indians  of  America  abroad.  At  the 
end  of  the  century,  it  could  point  to  an  income  of  several 
thousand  pounds  a-year,  and  to  three  hundred  and  sixty 
schools;  having,  from  the  outset,  been  instrumental  in  com- 
municating a  superior  and  industrious  education  to  not  less, 
it  was  estimated,  than  three  hundred  thousand  persons. 
With  regard,  again,  to  its  foreign  missionary  operations, 
these  commenced  in  1732,  in  aiding  three  ministers  who 
were  resident  on  the  borders  of  the  Indians'  country.  After 
various  unsuccessful  attempts  to  reach  the  people,  Brainerd 
was  appointed  a  missionary  in  1743.  His  labours  were 
eminently  blessed,  but  he  was  succeeded  by  others  who  did 
not  meet  with  the  same  encouragement.  Various  plans 
having  failed,  a  contribution  was  made,  in  1761,  throughout 
the  Church,  amounting  to  above  ^62500,  to  establish  a  semi- 
nary for  raising  native  teachers.  This  scheme,  taking  all 
circumstances  into  account,  was  for  a  considerable  time  suc- 
cessful in  spreading  Christianity  and  civilization  among  a 
number  of  the  natives.  Missions  to  other  tribes  were  after- 
wards set  on  foot;  and  though,  as  a  whole,  the  work  never 


440 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


seems  to  have  prospered  with  them,  yet  there  was  doubtless 
spiritual  fruit  from  time  to  time.  The  Society  still  holds 
some  connection  with  the  remaining  Indians  of  America,  and 
other  parties  have  now  come  forward  to  dispense  among 
them  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel.  Although  not  one  soul 
liad  been  converted,  yet  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Church, 
through  the  means  and  opportunites  afforded  her,  to  labour 
to  enlarge  the  boundaries  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom ;  and  in 
doing  so,  amid  much  discouragement  and  the  most  unpromis- 
ing materials,  she  doubtless  had  her  reward,  at  least  those  of 
her  number  who  possessed  and  cherished  a  missionary  spirit. 
The  great  loss  was,  that  at  that  period,  even  throughout 
Christendom,  so  few  were  alive  to  their  obligations.  Towards 
the  conclusion  of  the  darkest  days  of  the  Church  (1796,) 
the  General  Assembly  rejected  the  proposal  of  various  Pres- 
byteries and  Synods  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen,  by  a 
small  majority,  indeed,  in  a  small  house;  but  the  grounds 
upon  which  several  of  the  leading  men  opposed  the  proposal 
were  most  unscriptural,  and  indicated  views  at  utter  variance 
with  a  just  understanding  of  the  Gospel.  There  might  be 
able,  and  learned,  and  tasteful  ministers  among  the  clergy 
in  the  very  sad  times  which  we  have  been  contemplating — 
though,  judging  by  the  literature  which  has  survived,  these 
seem  to  have  been  wonderfully  few  ;*  but  the  growing  igno- 

*  There  was,  indeed,  quite  a  constellation  of  eminent  contemporary 
literary  characters  in  Scotland,  in  the  middle  and  towards  the  end  of 
last  century ;  but  the  unevangelical  and  anti-popular  policy  in  the 
Church  can  take  no  credit  for  calling  them  forth;  at  least,  the  friends 
of  that  policy,  by  doing  so,  only  proclaim  their  own  connection  with 
infidelity.  Most  of  the  literati  to  whom  we  refer  were  either  infidels, 
or  trod  on  the  borders  of  scepticism.  Hume  was  the  leading  and 
most  ingenious  infidel  of  his  time.  Black,  the  celebrated  chemist, 
who  attended  him  on  his  death-bed,  highly  approved  of  his  character. 
So  did  Adam  Smith,  who  pronounced  him  as  perfect  a  specimen  of 
man  as  human  nature  admits  of.  Kaimes,  though  a  Judge  of  Jus- 
ticiary,  held,  in  his  book  on  Necessity,  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
sin  or  crime,  and  that  Deity  has  bestowed  upon  men  a  deceitful  sense 
that  they  are  free,  while  they  are  really  mere  machines  !  Hutton  held 
that  the  world  never  had  a  beginning,  and,  of  course,  that  Revelation 
is  false.  Robertson,  though  a  minister  of  the  Church,  and  leader  of 
the  Moderate  party  in  the  General  Assembly,  maintained  the  warm- 
est friendship  with  the  most  dangerous  |infidels  of  his  time — Gibbon 
and  Hume;  regetting  the  attacks  of  the  former  upon  Christianity, 
not  (at  least  he  does  not  say  so)  because  Gibbon  was  assailing  the 
truth  of  God,  but  because  it  would  hurt  the  sale  of  his  book;  and  per- 
mitting  the  latter,  in  his  correspondence,  to  indulge  unchecked  in  pro- 
fane  swearing.     Robert  Burns,  a  man,  with  all  his  acknowledged 


OF    FRANCE.  441 

ranee,  and  infidelity,  and  licentiousness,  and  pauperism  of 
the  country,  and  the  general  want  of  interest  in  the  Church 
and  its  proceedings,  plainly  show  that  their  system  of  doc- 
trine was  not  sound,  and  their  whole  system  of  management 
most  inefficient.  Sir  H.  Moncrieff  states,  tliat  it  "was  not 
till  the  Secession  broke  ofl",  that  the  parochial  collections  be- 
came inadequate  for  the  support  of  the  poor,  and  that  legal 
assessment  became  necessary."  Indeed,  no  small  part  of 
their  policy  seems  to  have  consisted  in  doing  nothing — in 
allowing  the  greatest  changes  to  take  place  in  society,  with- 
out any  attempt,  by  church  or  school  extension,  to  meet 
them.  They  seem  to  have  been  afraid  to  move,  lest  they 
brought  evil  upon  themselves,  or  danger  on  the  Establish- 
ment. No  wonder  that,  in  such  a  country  as  this,  such  a 
policy  should  have  bequeathed  a  world  of  difficulty  and 
labour  to  those  who  were  to  arise  after  them,  but  with  a  dif- 
ferent spirit. 

That  the  Christians  of  this  land  may  more  gratefully  ap- 
preciate the  blessings  which  they  enjoy,  in  being  delivered 
from  so  cold  and  paralyzing  a  system,  and  may  be  animated 
to  resist  its  return,  it  may  be  well  to  remind  them  that  the 
sister  country  groaned  at  the  same  time  under  the  same  op- 
pression. We  have  seen  that,  in  an  early  part  of  the  cen- 
tury, all  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation  underwent  a  seri- 
ous decline,  and  they  did  not  improve  with  its  progress.    The 

genius,  of  miserably  immoral  life,  who,  aware  of  the  sanctifying" 
power  of  the  doctrines  of  free  grace,  declared  that  the  Gospel  would 
not  suit  him,  and  that  he  must  trust  to  "  sincere  though  imperfect 
obedience  !"  was  later  in  the  day.  The  most  respectable,  in  point  of 
Christian  character,  of  the  literati  to  whom  I  refer,  was  Dr.  Campbell 
of  Aberdeen,  the"antagonist  of  Hume  on  miracles ;  and  Mr.  Hutchison, 
the  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  Glasgow,  who,  according  to 
Wodrow's  Analecta^  assembled  the  young  men  attending  his  class  for 
religious  instruction,  on  the  morning  of  the  Lord's  day,  and  wrote  an 
able  pamphlet  against  Lay-Patronage,  and  in  behalf  of  the  rights  of 
the  Christian  people  in  the  appointment  of  their  ministers.  Even  Dr. 
Reid,  with  all  the  meekness  and  amiableness  of  his  character,  seems, 
at  an  advanced  period  of  life,  to  have  been  sadly  ignorant  of  the  Gos- 
pel  of  Christ.  In  a  letter  written  to  a  friend  on  the  death  of  a  near 
relative — a  season  well  fitted  to  stir  a  man's  religion  to  the  bottom — 
he  suggests,  as  grounds  of  consolation,  considerations  which  do  not 
surpass  the  standard  of  Epictetus,  Seneca,  or  Cicero ;  and  yet  he  had 
been  a  minister  of  the  Church  !  There  is  not  the  slightest  reference 
to  Revelation,  though  it  is  it  alone  which  has  brought  life  and  im- 
mortality to  light.  Supposing,  then,  that  Moderatism  in  the  Church 
were  connected  with  the  literature  of  Scotland,  it  would  have  little  to 
boast  of. 


442 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


tendency  of  false  doctrine  is  to  get  worse  and  worse.  There 
is  no  consistent  or  logical  ground  upon  which  a  man  can  stand 
between  holding  the  true  Gospel  and  holding  the  principles 
of  Infidelity.  Consistent  Arminianisni  leads  to  Pelagianism 
(though  many  are  happily  better  than  their  principles,  and 
stop  short  in  the  course,)  and  Pelagianism  leads  to  Arianism 
and  Arianism  leads  to  Socinianism,  and  Socinianism  leads  to 
Infidelity.  Universal  redemption,  and  universal  pardon,  and 
universal  restoration,  are  all  connected  together,  and  lead  fur- 
ther and  further  from  the  truth.  We  need  not  wonder  then  (to 
confine  our  attention  to  England)  that  the  aspects  of  the  Protes- 
tant Church,  both  Established  and  Dissenting,  became  more 
and  more  unfavourable,  and  that  though  the  country  was 
called,  in  the  meantime,  to  endure  trials  at  home  and  wage 
wars  abroad,  which,  it  might  have  been  hoped,  would  have 
recalled  to  serious  religion.  The  violent  opposition  with 
which  the  disinterested  and  most  successful  labours  of  White- 
field  and  his  coadjutors  were  assailed  in  the  middle  of  the 
century,  is  an  obvious  proof  of  the  wide-spread  irreligion  of 
all  ranks.  The  testimonies  which  could  be  produced  to  this 
purpose  are  innumerable.  In  1772,  not  less  than  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England  petitioned 
Parliament  to  be  released  from  the  obligation  of  signing  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  as  a  Confession  of  Faith.  Though  this 
may  seem  a  small  number  out  of  ten  thousand  clergy,  yet  it 
cannot  be  questioned,  that  there  were  many  more  who  held 
the  same  sentiments,  whom  regard  for  appearances,  and  the 
fear  of  endangering  their  livings,  restrained  from  a  public 
expression.  About  the  same  period  there  was  a  similar 
proposal  in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  but  the  merciful  Provi- 
dence of  God  happily  defeated  it,  though  it  cannot  be  sup- 
posed that  religious  considerations  swayed  the  parties  who 
were  the  instruments  of  prevention.  Alliance  with  the  State, 
on  the  ground  of  recognized  standards,  has  repeatedly  proved 
a  protection  and  rallying  point  to  sound  doctrine. 

In  this  connection  I  may  state,  that  it  has  sometimes  been 
made  a  question,  how  Principal  Robertson,  who  began  to 
lead  the  General  Assembly  at  thirty  years  of  age,  and  who 
continued  to  do  so  for  thirty  years,  almost  without  a  rival, 
laying  the  foundation  of  that  unevangelical  and  anti-popular 
policy  which  has  been  so  destructive  to  the  Church,  came 
suddenly  and  unexpectedly  to  abandon  Church  courts  while 
yet  in  his  prime! — and  one  answer,  and,  we  believe,  the 
true  one,  is,  that  there  was  a  growing  disposition  on  the  part 


OF    FRANCE.  443 

of  the  younger  men  of  the  party  to  get  rid  of  subscription  to 
the  Confession  of  Faith.  Low  as  the  stale  of  religion  must 
have  been  before  such  a  proposal  could  have  been  made, 
Robertson,  as  a  far-sighted  man,  saw  the  hazard  of  thereby 
shaking  the  connection  between  Church  and  State,  which  is 
intended  to  secure  the  teaching,  not  of  any  doctrine,  but  of 
the  Calvinistic  and  free  grace  doctrine  of  the  standards. 
Widely  as  many  may  have  practically  departed  from  this, 
it  was  dangerous  to  avow  the  departure.  Hence  Robertson 
discountenanced  the  proposal,  at  the  expense  of  displeasing 
not  a  few  of  his  own  friends,  and  withdrawing  from  their 
counsels.  Perhaps  the  Principal's  fears  were  not  altogether 
unfounded.  It  is  related  that  at  least  some  proprietors  who 
paid  the  ministers'  salary,  declared  that  the  moment  the 
signing  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  was  given  up,  they  would 
consider  the  alliance  between  Church  and  State  at  an  end, 
and  would  pay  no  more  money.  This  was  rather  a  critical 
question  at  that  time  to  agitate.  Had  the  multitudes  of  op- 
pressed and  insulted  people  who  abandoned  the  Established 
Church  for  the  Secession,  instead  of  following  the  course 
which  they  pursued,  stated  to  the  Legislature  that  many  of 
the  ministers  were  not  preaching  according  to  the  Confession 
of  Faith,  but  false  doctrine,  and  petitioned  that  the  temporali- 
ties should  be  withdrawn  from  the  Church  till  she  ceased  to 
teach  error;  in  short,  called  upon  the  state,  in  a  constitu- 
tional manner,  to  satisfy  herself  that  the  money  which  she 
contributed  was  properly  applied  to  the  purpose  for  which  it 
was  given,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  they  would  have 
exerted  a  very  salutary  check  on  the  downward  course  of 
ministerial  carelessness  and  error,  and  would,  perhaps,  have 
alarmed  the  Church  much  more  than  by  building  dissenting 
places  of  worship.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  stated  by  Wod- 
row  in  his  ^naleda,  on  the  authority  of  Lord  Grange,  that 
Lords  Townsend  and  Somers,  leading  statesmen,  though 
semi-infidels  themselves,  were  quite  opposed  to  Dr.  Clarke's 
Arian  doctrines  on  public  grounds ;  and  declared  their  opin- 
ion, that  if  the  received  scriptural  tenets  were  departed  from, 
there  was  nothing  for  this  country  but  Popery,  slavery,  and 
confusion.  This  indicated  no  small  discernment  on  the  part 
of  irreligious  statesmen,  and  if  generally  shared  in  by  official 
men  at  a  later  day,  might  have  rendered  it  a  perilous  thing 
to  abrogate  the  signing  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  in  Scot- 
land, even  in  the  dark  and  cold  reign  of  Principal  Robertson. 
But  to  return  to  some  proofs  of  the  fallen  Christianity  of 


444  PROTESTANT    CHUKCH 

the  last  century.  Augustus  Toplady,  the  able  defender  of 
Calvinism,  thus  speaks  in  1776: — "  We  live  at  a  time  when 
the  generality  of  professed  Protestants  appear  to  have  lost 
sight  of  those  grand  and  essential  principles  to  which  the 
Church  of  England  was  reformed,  and  in  defence  of  which 
her  martyrs  bled.  Religious  ignorance,  and  a  general  un- 
concernedness  about  divine  things,  together  with  the  most 
profuse  dissipation,  and  a  growing  disregard  of  moral  virtue, 
are  the  reigning  characteristics  of  the  present  age.  In  a 
country  thus  circumstanced,  Popery  (ever  on  the  watch  for 
advantages)  will,  and  must,  and  does,  gain  continual  ground. 
Ignorance,  infidelity,  and  licentiousness,  naturally  terminate 
in  superstition  as  their  ultimate  refuge;  and  Rome  too  often 
reaps  what  profaneness  and  immorality  have  sown." 

Addressing  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the 
conclusion  of  his  "  Historical  Defence  of  the  Calvinism  of 
that  Church,"  he  says — "  Where  shall  we  stop?  We  have 
already  forsook  the  good  old  paths  trod  by  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  and  by  Christ  and  the  apostles — paths  in  which 
our  own  reformers  also  trod — our  martyrs,  our  bishops,  our 
clergy,  our  universities,  and  the  whole  body  of  this  Protest- 
ant, {.  e.,  of  this  once  Calvinislic  nation.  Our  liturgy,  our 
articles,  and  our  homilies,  it  is  true,  still  keep  possession  of 
our  church  walls ;  but  we  pray,  we  subscribe,  we  assent  one 
way;  we  believe,  we  preach,  we  write  another.  In  the  desk 
we  are  verbal  Calvinists,  but  no  sooner  do  we  ascend  a  few 
steps  above  the  desk,  than  we  forget  the  grave  character  in 
which  we  appeared  below,  and  tag  the  performance  with  a 
few  minutes'  Entertainment,  compiled  from  the  fragments 
bequeathed  to  us  by  Pelagius  and  Arminius,  not  to  say  by 
Arius,  Socinus,  and  by  others  still  worse  than  they.  Ob- 
serve, I  speak  not  of  all  indiscriminately.  We  have  many 
great  and  good  men,  some  of  whom  are,  and  some  of  whom 
are  not,  Calvinists.  But  that  the  glory  is,  in  a  very  con- 
siderable degree,  departed  from  our  Established  Sion,  is  a 
truth  which  cannot  be  contravened — a  fact  which  must  be 
lamented,  and  an  alarming  symptom  which  ought  to  be  pub- 
licly noticed. 

"  In  the  opinion  of  the  late  Dr.  Young,  '  almost  every 
cottage  can  show  us  one  that  has  corrupted,  and  every  palace 
one  that  has  renounced  the  faith.'  Are  matters  much  mend- 
ed since  that  pious  and  respectable  Arminian  launched  the 
above  complaint?  I  fear  not.  Is  there  a  single  heresy  that 
ever  annoyed  the  Christian  world,  which  has  not  its  present 


OF    FRANCE.  445 

partizans  among  those  who  profess  conformity  to  the  Church 
of  England?  At  what  point  our  revohings  will  end,  God 
alone  can  tell.  But  this  I  affirm,  without  hesitation,  and  on 
the  most  meridian  conviction,  that  Arminianism  is  the  poi- 
sonous wood  to  which  the  waters  of  our  national  sanctuary 
are  primarily  indebted  for  all  their  imbitterment.  In  par- 
ticular, Arianism,  Socinianism,  practical  Antinomianism,  and 
infidelity  itself,  have  all  made  their  way  through  that  breach 
at  which  Arminianism  entered  before  them.  Nor  will  the 
Protestant  religion  gain  ground,  or  finally  maintain  the  ground 
it  has  got,  neither  is  it  possible  for  the  interests  of  morality 
itself  to  flourish,  till  the  Arminian  bondwoman  and  her  sons 
are  cast  out,  i,  e.,  till  the  nominal  members  of  our  Church 
become  real  believers  of  its  doctrines,  and  throw  the  exotic 
and  corrupt  system  of  Van  Harmin,  with  all  its  branches 
and  appurtenances,  to  the  moles  and  to  the  bats." 

JVI^iny  similar  melancholy  testimonies  might  be  quoted. 
*'  Socrates,  preaching  moral  virtue,  and  dying  to  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  unity  of  the  Godhead,  was  made  to  the  Grecian 
people  wisdom  and  righteousness,  not  less  than  Jesus."* 
"  Morality  is  the  new  creature  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Morality  is  all  in  all  in  the  Christian  religion.  The 
Christian  religion  is  the  law  of  nature  revived  and  perfected. 
The  fruits  of  the  Spirit  are  the  same  with  the  moral  virtues; 
grace  and  virtue  are  but  two  names  that  signify  the  same 
thing."t  "  My  brethren,"  says  Bishop  Lavington,  address- 
ing his  clergy,  "  I  beg  you  will  rise  up  with  me  against 
moral  preaching.  We  have  long  been  attempting  the  refor- 
mation of  the  nation  by  discourses  of  this  kind.  With  what 
success  ?  None  at  all.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  dexter- 
ously preached  the  people  into  downright  infidelity.  We 
must  change  our  voice,  we  must  preach  Christ  and  him  cru- 
cified. Nothing  but  the  Gospel  is,  nothing  will  be  found  to 
be,  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  besides.  Let  me,  there- 
fore, again  and  again,  request,  may  I  not  add,  let  me  charge 
you,  to  preach  Jesus  and  salvation  through  his  name.  Preach 
the  Lord  who  bought  us ;  preach  redemption  through  his 
blood;  preach  the  saying  of  the  great  High  Priest,  '  He  who 
believeth  shall  be  saved;'  preach  repentance  towards  God, 
and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  truth,  I  fear,  is, 
that  many,  if  not  the  most  of  us,  have  dwelt  too  little  on 
these  doctrines  in  our  sermons;  by  no  means,  in  general, 
from  disbelieving  or  slighting  them,  but  partly  from  know- 

*  Warburton.  t  Archbishop  Tillotson's  Sermons,  passim. 


446  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

ing  that  formerly  they  had  been  inculcated  beyond  their  pro- 
portion, and  even  to  the  disparagement  of  Christian  obedi- 
ence ;  partly  from  fancying  them  so  generally  received  and 
remembered,  that  little  needs  to  be  said  but  on  social  obliga- 
tions ;  partly,  again,  from  not  having  studied  theology  deeply 
enough  to  treat  of  them  ably  and  beneficially.  God  grant 
that  it  may  never  have  been  for  want  of  inwardly  experien- 
cing their  importance.  But  whatever  be  the  cause,  the  effect 
hath  been  lamentable.  Our  people  have  grown  less  and  less 
mindful,  first,  of  the  distinguishing  articles  of  their  creed, 
then,  as  will  always  be  the  case,  of  that  one  which  they  hold 
in  common  with  the  heathens — have  forgot,  in  fact,  their 
Creator,  as  well  as  their  Redeemer  and  Sanctifier;  seldom 
or  never  seriously  worshipping  Him,  or  thinking  of  the  state 
of  their  souls  in  relation  to  Him ;  but  flattering  themselves 
that  what  they  are  pleased  to  call  a  moral  and  harmless  life, 
though  far  from  being  either,  is  the  one  thing  needful. 'V 

The  biographer  of  Hervey,  speaking  of  the  same  period, 
says — "At  that  time  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England 
who  ventured  to  maintain  her  articles  and  homilies  in  doc- 
trine, and  who  supported  them  in  fact  by  a  holy  practice, 
was  a  kind  of  prodigy,  and  met  with  nothing  but  censure, 
persecution,  and  hard  names  from  all  ranks  and  sorts  of 
men.  Our  pulpits  resounded  with  morality,  deduced  from 
the  principles  of  nature  and  the  fitness  of  things,  with  no  re- 
lation to  Christ  or  the  Holy  Ghost — all  which  the  heathen 
philosophers  have  insisted  on,  and  perhaps  with  more  than 
modern  ingenuity,  and  in  consequence  of  this,  our  streets 
have  resounded  with  heathen  immorality."* 

And  what  were  the  effects  of  this  state  of  things?  Such 
were  the  relaxation  of  discipline  in  the  Church,  and  clerical 
carelessness,  that,  in  1789,  the  eminent  Hannah  More  found 
thirteen  adjoining  parishes  in  Somersetshire,  where  there 
was  not  so  much  as  a  single  resident  curate.  The  popular 
ignorance  corresponded.  Out  of  one  hundred  and  eight  chil- 
dren in  these  parishes,  drawn  together  to  her  school,  not  one 
could  tell  who  made  them ! 

Among  the  Protestant  Dissenters  matters  were  much  the 
same.  Indeed,  their  want  of  Church  government,  and  want 
of  connection  with  the  State,  made  them  more  accessible  to 
the  inroads  of  error,  of  which  they  became  the  melancholy 
prey  in  the  worst  forms.  Dr.  Isaac  Watts,  in  his  Dedica- 
tion of  his  Sermons,  speaking  of  the  dissenting  interest, 
*  Herve}''s  Life,  p.  22. 


OF    FRANCE. 


447 


says:  *'  As  lo  the  savour  of  piety  and  inward  religion — as  to 
spiritual-mindedness,  and  zeal  for  God,  and  the  good  of  souls 
—  and  as  to  the  spirit  and  power  of  evangelical  ministers,  we 
may  all  complain.  The  glory  is  much  departed  from  Israel." 
Dr.  Doddridge  says,  "  The  defection  of  our  younger  minis- 
ters T  greatly  lament;  the  dissenting  interest  is  not  like  it- 
self; I  hardly  know  it.     I  knew  the  time  when  I  had  no 
doubt  into  whatever  place  among  Dissenters  I  went,  but  that 
my  heart  would  be  warmed  and  comforted,  and  my  edifica- 
tion promoted;  now  I  hear  prayers  and  sermons  which  I 
neither  relish  nor  understand.     Evangelical  truth  and  duty 
are    quite  old  fashioned.      From  many  pulpits  one's  ears 
are  dunned  with  reason — the  great  law  of  reason — the  eter- 
nal law  of  reason — that  it  is  enough  to  put  one  out  of  conceit 
with  the  chief  excellency  of  our  nature,  because  it  is  idolized 
and  even  deified."      Job  Orton,  the   biographer  of    Dod- 
dridge, thus  expresses  himself  on  the  same  subject:  "Their 
congregations  are  in  a  wretched  state.     Some  are  dwindling 
to  nothing,  as  is  the  case  with  several  in  this  neighbourhood, 
where  there  are  not  now  as  many  scores  as  there  were  hun- 
dreds in  their  meeiing-houses  fifty  years  ago;  but  when,  by 
trade  and  manufactures,  new  persons  come  to  the  place  and 
fill  up  the  vacant  seats,  there  is  a  fatal  deadness  spread  over 
the  congregation.     They  run  in  the  course  of  this  world, 
follow  every  fashionable  folly,  and  family  and  personal  god- 
liness seems  in  general  to  be  lost  among  them.     There  is 
scarcely  any  appearance  of  life  or  zeal  in  the  cause  of  reli- 
gion, which  demands  and  deserves  the  greatest."     Again,  a 
few  years  later,  he  writes,  speaking  of  a  minister:  "  I  hope 
he  will  be  long  spared,  as  his  life  is  of  great  importance  to 
our  interest  in  its  present  low  state.     1  am  glad  to  hear  it  re- 
vives among  you,  but  it  is  almost  sunk  to  nothing  in  those 
parts  of  Cheshire  which  I  am  acquainted  with,  and  this  I 
think,  must  be  oAving  to  that  which  is  indeed  the  grand 
source  of  its  decay  every  where,  the  want  of  seriousness  in 
our  ministers,  and  by  their  principles   and  their  practices 
making  concessions  in  favour  of  fashionable  indulgences, 
and  neglect  of  religious  exercises."    Again,  in  1777  he  thus 
writes  of  the  state  of  religion  among  the  Dissenters  of  Lon- 
don :  "  I  grieve  for  the  state  of  things  amongst  us,  especially 
in  and  about  London.    The  spirit  of  the  world,  and  the  love 
of  dissipation  and  trifles,  prevail  so  much  as  to  eat  out  the 
very  life  of  religion,  and  throw  public  worship  into  a  matter 
of  mere  entertainment,  or  an  idle  ceremony." 


448  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

There  is  a  striking  testimony  to  be  found  in  "  The  Con- 
temphitions"  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ryland  of  Northampton,  pub- 
lished in  1776.  He  declares,  after  twenty-nine  years  of  ex- 
perience in  the  teaching  of  youth,  from  seven  to  twenty  years 
of  age,  he  never  had  one  who  had  been  taught  by  his  pa- 
rents or  former  instructors  in  the  solid  evidences  of  the 
Christian  religion.  He  adds,  "  if  my  observations  be  a  spe- 
cimen of  the  state  of  the  British  youth  in  general,  no  won- 
der that  the  nation  is  going  back  to  Popery  and  atheism." 
Perhaps  the  most  impressive  testimony,  however,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  which  appears  from  accredited  historical  docu- 
ments, that  there  must  have  been  a  falling  to  pieces,  and  de- 
struction of  not  fewer  than  eleven  hundred  dissenting  churches 
in  England,  in  sixty  years.  Neal  states  their  places  of  worship, 
in  1715,  at  two  thousand  eight  hundred;  and  Josiah  Thom- 
son, sixty  years  after,  draws  up  a  particular  catalogue,  which 
shows  only  seventeen  hundred  and  one.  As  the  people 
very  generally  hated  the  unsound  doctrine  which  the  minis- 
ters insidiously  taught,  it  is  not  difficult  to  explain  the  disap- 
pearance of  so  many  congregations.  It  was  creditable  to 
the  people,  but  what  a  sad  picture  does  it  present  of  the 
change  in  the  ministry,  and  of  the  withering  and  destroying 
influence  of  false  doctrine.  The  British  Churches  in  peace 
and  outward  prosperity,  and  the  French  Church  under  de- 
pression and  occasional  persecution,  are  destined  to  exhibit 
the  same  error,  and  its  malignant  eflfects.  Perhaps  at  this 
particular  period,  the  Presbyterians  of  Scodand,  as  a  whole, 
were  the  most  thoroughly  evangelical  party  in  the  Christian 
Church.  They  had  not  had  time  to  degenerate,  and  they 
were  the  descendants  of  noble  sires ;  but  their  quarrel  with 
the  Spirit's  work  of  revival  in  some  of  the  parishes  of  Scot- 
land, and  the  speedy  and  bitter  divisions  which  appeared 
among  themselves,  show  how  much  they,  too,  were  aiTected 
by  the  unhappy  age  in  which  they  lived.  It  may  be  added, 
that  the  great  body  of  the  present  Socinians  in  England  are 
descended  from  the  faithful  Nonconformists  of  old.  Of  two 
hundred  and  six  places  of  worship,  one  hundred  and  seventy 
belonged  to  founders,  whose  sentiments  on  the  most  impor- 
tant subjects  were  not  only  different  from,  but  contrary  to 
those  of  their  pretended  successors.*     That  this  fact  may 

*  The  «  Christian  Observer"  of  April  1833,  has  the  following  state- 
ment — "  The  French  Protestants  complain  that  large  funds,  intended 
for  the  benefit  of  their  Church,  are  disposed  of  in  a  secret  and  irre- 
sponsible  manner  by  a  committee  at  Geneva.     They  state  that  at  the 


OF    FRAXCE.  449 

not  be  perverted,  as  it  has  been,  into  an  argument  against 
popular  rights  in  the  appointment  of  ministers,  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  mention  anew,  that  it  was  the  ministers,  not  the 
people,  who  were,  in  the  first  instance,  unsound  and  hereti- 
cal— that  it  was  the  ministers  who  perverted  the  people — 
and  that  this  was  perpetuated  by  the  pastoral  appointment 
being  vested,  not  in  the  people,  but  in  a  very  small  body 
of  trustees,  whose  funds,  were  sufficiently  large  to  enable 
them,  in  a  great  measure,  to  maintain  religious  worship 
without  the  aid  or  control  of  the  people.  I  have  been  in- 
formed by  those  who  have  given  some  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject, that  the  same  holds  true  of  the  heterodox  ministers 
who,  for  so  many  years,  poisoned  the  Churches  of  America 
and  Ireland.  It  was  not  the  breadth  but  the  narrowness 
of  tiie  popular  basis  which  was  the  source  of  evil.  Even 
the  most  popular  constitution  may  not,  in  every  case,  be  an 
effectual  protection  against  false  doctrine;  but,  as  a  general 
rule,  it  is  a  far  better  protection  than  any  other,  whether  lay 
or  clerical,  which  can  be  devised.  The  Presbyterian  Dis- 
senters of  Scotland,  who  have  now  subsisted  for  a  century, 
and  can  boast  of  several  hundred  congregations,  were  never 
accused  of  any  love  of  Arminianism,  or  Arianism,  or  So- 
cinianism,  though  the  right  of  electing  their  ministers  is 
placed  on  the  most  popular  footing. 

But,  to  return  from  these  observations  to  the  state  of  reli- 
gion, or  rather  the  want  of  religion,  in  England,  toward  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  I  cannot  better  conclude  than  in  the 

time  of  the  persecution  of  their  ancestors,  a  considerable  sum  was 
raised  by  some  French  Protestant  families  for  the  promotion  of  reli- 
gion, and  especially  in  assisting  the  studies  of  candidates  for  holy 
orders,  and  that  this  fund  has  been  largely  increased  by  gifts  and  le- 
gacies. Its  administration,  in  the  days  of  persecution,  was  of  neces- 
sity secret,  and  placed  beyond  the  limits  of  France;  but  its  objects 
were  essentially  French,  and  the  period  for  secrecy  having  long  pass- 
ed,  the  descendants  of  the  donors  wish  an  account  of  the  amount  of 
the  funds,  and  the  mode  of  apportioning  them.  The  very  names  of 
the  secret  committee  are  only  a  matter  of  conjecture,  and  the  whole 
affair  is  involved  in  mystery.  We  fear,  however,  there  is  too  much 
reason  to  believe  that  they  have  for  some  years  been  rendered  subser- 
vient  to  the  growth  of  Neology  instead  of  building  up  the  pure  Pro- 
testant Church,  for  which  the  original  donors  hazarded  their  property, 
their  liberty,  and  their  lives."  This  is  quite  in  accordance  with  the 
proceedings  of  Socinians  in  other  quarters — in  short,  v^herevcr  it  has 
had  the  opportunity  ;  and  yet  it  pretends  to  be  the  great  patron  of 
justice,  and  candour,  and  charity,  and  freedom — in  other  words,  the 
only  representative  of  true  Christianity! 

29 


450  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

words  of  the  celebrated  Jonathan  Edwards,  in  his  History  of 
Redemption,  written  in  1773.  Speaking  of  England,  and 
the  Christian  Church  generally,  he  says — "  In  this  kingdom 
those  principles  on  which  the  power  of  godliness  depends, 
are  in  a  great  measure  exploded,  and  Arianism,  and  Socinian- 
ism,  and  Arminianism,  and  Deism,  are  the  things  which  pre- 
vail and  carry  ahnost  all  before  them.  And  particularly, 
history  gives  no  account  of  any  age  wherein  there  was  so 
great  an  apostasy  of  those  who  had  been  brought  up  under 
the  light  of  the  Gospel,  to  infidelity;  never  was  there  such 
a  casting  off  of  the  Christian  and  all  revealed  religion;  never 
any  age  wherein  so  much  scoffing  at,  and  ridiculing  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ  by  those  who  have  been  brought  up  under  Gos- 
pel light,  nor  any  thing  like  it,  as  there  is  at  this  day." 

And  now  full  manifestation  having  been  made  of  the  de- 
pravity of  man,  and  of  the  insufficiency  of  all  ecclesiastical 
forms  and  arrangements  to  preserve  the  Gospel  in  its  purity, 
God  was  pleased  to  interpose  in  mercy,  and  make  the  very 
weakness  of  the  Church,  and  the  wickedness  of  men,  sub- 
servient to  revival  and  restoration.  Carelessness  and  error 
in  the  Church — violent  settlements — ministers  subscribing 
doctrines  which  plainly  they  did  not  believe — men  of  no  reli- 
gion persecuting  the  faithful,  and  then  conforming  to  the 
same  communion  for  a  piece  of  bread — the  undue  exaltation 
of  human  reason  and  the  freedom  of  the  will,  the  favourite 
tenets  of  Arminianism; — these,  and  various  other  things, 
had  spread  irreligion  and  infidelity  widely  among  the  more 
educated  classes  of  society.  In  the  meantime,  there  was  a 
sudden  enlargement  of  the  resources  of  the  people,  through 
commercial  and  manufacturing  channels,  and  withal,  a  great 
enlargement  of  the  numbers  of  the  people,  while  the  Estab- 
lished Church  denied  them  the  means  of  adequate  or  sound 
religious  instruction.  What  could  be  expected  to  follow 
from  this  state  of  things?  Infidelity  descends  from  the  liigher 
to  the  humbler  classes,  and  is  greedily  swallowed.  This 
hatred  to  the  restraints  of  God  and  of  man  (for  that  is  true 
infidelity,)  takes  a  direction  to  political  rights  and  liberty. 
Popish  France,  with  its  Protestantism  well  nigh  extinguished, 
and  with  a  more  excitable  people,  had  still  less  to  keep  its 
infidelity  in  check  than  even  this  country.  Hence  all  social 
bands  were  loosed,  and  a  revolution  of  unprecedented  horrors 
burst  forth.  The  contajrion  spread  to  this  country.  Paine 
is  read,  or  rather  devoured,  wherever  the  people  can  read, 
and  this   is  peculiarly  true  of  Scotland.     The  middle  and 


OF    FRA^XE.  451 

higher  classes,  who  had  patronized  irreligion  and  infidelity, 
get  alarmed  for  themselves  and  the  nation,  when  they  see 
their  own  work  in  practical  exemplification.  There  is  an 
immediate  and  general  conviction  that  it  is  only  true  efl&cient 
religion  which  can  preserve  the  people  in  social  order,  and 
minister  consolation  amid  the  changes  of  time  and  the  terrors 
of  revolution.  Men  in  office,  and  thousands  on  thousands 
not  in  office,  betake  themselves  to  the  churches  which,  as 
in  Popish  lands,  they  had  in  a  great  degree  abandoned  to 
females,  and  now  proceed  to  set  an  example  to  the  humbler 
classes,  of  reverence  for  religion  and  submission  to  its  claims. 
In  the  meantime,  the  French  Revolution  moves  on  with  its 
scenes  of  indescribable  atrocity.  Infidelity,  produced  in  a 
great  measure  by  the  unfaithfulness  of  the  Church,  is  pictured 
forth  in  blood  before  her  eyes.  The  event  is  sanctified  to 
many.  Thousands  begin  to  turn  to  God  for  safety,  and  to 
think  seriously  of  religion.  They  see  the  vanity  of  that  cold, 
careless  formalism  which  had  been  so  much  patronized  by 
the  Church.  They  inquire  for  the  fervour  and  power  of 
evangelical  truth.  Men  and  ministers  who  are  already  faith- 
ful, are  stirred  up  to  new  zeal.  The  inquiries  of  others 
quicken  their  own  activities;  and  the  consequence  is,  that,  at 
the  very  time  when  Satan  is  hoping  for,  and  the  timid  are 
fearing,  an  utter  overturn  of  true  religion,  there  is  a  revival, 
and  the  Gospel  expands  its  wings  and  prepares  for  a  new 
flight.  It  is  worthy  of  remembrance,  that  1792,  the  very 
year  of  the  French  Revolution,  was  also  the  year  when 
the  "  Baptist  Missionary  Society"  was  formed,  a  society 
which  was  followed,  during  the  succeeding,  and  they  the 
worst,  years  of  the  Revolution,  with  new  societies  of  un- 
wonted energy  and  union,  all  aiming,  and  aiming  successfully, 
at  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  both  at  home  and 
abroad.  What  withering  contempt  did  the  great  Head  of 
the  Church  thus  pour  upon  the  schemes  of  infidels!  And 
how  did  He  arouse  the  careless  and  instruct  His  own  peo- 
ple, by  alarming  providences,  at  a  season  when  they  greatly 
needed  such  a  stimulus  and  excitement!  The  first  favoura- 
ble religious  change,  then,  in  this  country,  in  recent  times, 
may  be  attributed  to  the  French  Revolution.  That  event  in 
its  consequences — in  the  wars  and  sufferings  which  it  created 
over  Europe — has,  doubtless,  been  blessed  to  many  in  vari- 
ous countries  of  the  Continent.  It  has  taught  them  the  inse- 
curity and  vanity  of  earthly  distinctions,  and  led  them  up  to 
God  himself  as  the  only  refuge  of  the  soul.     The  favourable 


452  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

changes  which  have  appeared  in  Prussia  and  Holland  have 
been  traced  to  this  influence.  And  if  public  trials  have  ope- 
rated in  this  way  in  tlieir  result,  is  it  strange  that  they  should 
have  acted  in  a  similar  manner  at  their  appalling  commence- 
ment and  prospects?  I  am  happy  in  these  views  to  be  borne 
out  by  the  following  statement  of  Dr.  Tholuck,  Professor  of 
Theology  at  Halle.  Speaking  of  the  revival  of  rehgion  in 
Germany,  at  a  somewhat  later  date  to  the  French  Revolution, 
he  says,* — and  his  observations  apply  to  the  Churches  of 
the  Reformation  generally — 

"  One  of  the  most  interesting  views  in  Church  history,  is 
to  examine  how  Christianity  revives  and  shines  with  new 
lustre  after  having  been  greatly  obscured  and  almost  extin- 
guished. The  period  of  the  first  French  Revolution  was  the 
time  of  the  greatest  abasement  of  the  Christian  revelation. 
In  Germany  we  never  went  so  far  as  the  French ;  we  never 
publicly  abolished  religious  worship,  and  condemned  as  a 
crime  the  adoration  of  Jesus  Christ  crucified.  But  though 
the  grave  character  of  the  Germans  preserved  them  from 
these  excesses,  they  drank  even  more  deeply  of  infidelity. 
"While  in  France  the  people,  led  astray  by  satirical  poets  and 
pretended  philosophers,  broke  crosses,  drove  away  priests, 
and  shut  churches;  in  Germany,  learned  men,  and  even 
ministers  of  the  Church,  endeavoured  to  rest  upon  science 
the  foundation  of  scepticism,  and  to  prove  that  the  Gospel 
was  no  more  a  revelation  of  God  than  the  various  religions 
successively  adopted  by  the  human  race. 

"  What  was,  at  the  beginning  of  this  century,  the  state  of 
theology  in  Germany?  We  may  know  by  the  religious  and 
literary  journals  published  at  that  time.  There  was  a  perfect 
calm  on  great  religious  questions.  No  one  doubted  that  Ra- 
tionalism was,  and  must  be,  the  only  religion  of  enlightened 
men.  Here  and  there,  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic  Sea,  in 
Pomerania  and  in  the  remote  provinces  of  Prussia,  were  a 
few  obscure  orthodox  pastors;  but  every  body  supposed 
they,  too,  would  soon  be  persuaded  to  follow  the  general 
example.  Rationalists  had  no  need  of  defending  their  cause, 
for,  with  a  few  unimportant  exceptions,  they  met  with  no 
adversaries.  Peace  was  in  the  Church  ;  but  what  a  peace ! 
It  was  the  tranquillity  of  death.  Sometimes  infidelity  broke 
forth  in  shameful  acts.  Thus,  at  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury, the  students  of  theology  of  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
universities  of  Germany,  dared  to  carry  the  Bible  in  proces- 

*  Vide  Address  to  the  Students  of  Divinity  at  Strasburgh  in  1837. 


OF    FRANCE. 


453 


sion,  and  inter  it  with  mockery,  pronouncing  over  the  tomb 
of  this  Bible  a  sacrilegious  funeral  oration.  Oh  I  who  could 
then  have  foreseen  the  religious  contest  which  we  now  wit- 
ness? Who  could  have  thought  that  in  every  city  of  impor- 
tance the  struggle  would  be  renewed  between  the  orthodox 
and  Rationalists,  and  that  we  should  see  every  where  socie- 
ties for  missions.  Bibles,  and  pious  books  ?  Who  could  have 
imagined  that  politicians  would  eagerly  seek  the  support  of 
revealed  truth,  and  that  philosophy  herself  would  be  judged 
of  in  a  Christian  point  of  view? 

*♦  Whence  came  this  religious  movement?  Not  from  halls 
where  professors  give  their  lectures.  Young  men  who  are 
studying  the  sciences  often  believe  that  the  universities  are 
the  fields  of  battle  on  which  are  decided  the  destinies  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  But  it  is  not  so,  my  dear  friends.  Man 
lives  not  by  the  bread  only  which  professors  distribute;  and 
the  theologian  must  not  confine  his  view  to  that  side.  The 
history  of  our  religious  revival  is  a  striking  proof  that  God 
can  make  bread  of  stones,  and  restore  the  life  of  faith  by 
means  which  no  one  could  have  foreseen. 

*'  The  first  attack  against  Rationalism,  the  first  step  taken 
to  return  to  the  Gospel,  was  on  the  part  of  the  poets  of  the 
romantic  school !  You  can  form  no  idea  of  the  impression  pro- 
duced by  the  poetry  of  Tiek,  Novalis,  Mai  de  Schenkendorf, 
and  other  writers  of  the  same  school.  Cold  and  barren  Ra- 
tionalism was  smitten  and  wounded  to  the  heart  by  the  noble 
and  ardent  inspirations  of  these  poets,  who  sought,  in  the 
bottom  of  our  nature,  the  primitive  wants  of  the  human  soul. 

**  At  the  same  time,  philosophy  penetrated  more  deeply 
into  the  knowledge  of  our  moral  faculties,  and  restored  their 
rights  to  sentiments  which  had  been  repudiated  by  Rational- 
ism. Christian  doctrines  began  to  be  examined  under  a  new 
aspect,  and  to  be  regarded,  at  least,  as  the  expression  of  great 
thoughts,  containing  all  true  philosophy.  "  It  was  perceived 
that  there  was  no  contradiction  between  Christianity  rightly 
explained,  and  other  departments  of  human  knowledge ;  and 
that,  when  the  Gospel  was  sought  in  the  Gospel,  the  solu- 
tion was  found  of  the  most  difficult  problems  of  our  moral 
nature.  All  this  reconciled  to  Christianity  such  men  as 
Eschenmeyer,  Schwaz,  Daub,  Schubert,  and  others,  who 
became  afterwards  skilful  and  zealous  defenders  of  the  Bible. 

'*  But  this  literary  and  scientific  movement  would  not  pro- 
bably have  produced  new  life  in  the  Church,  if  it  had  not  been 
followed  by  a  powerful  appeal  addressed  to  all  who  possessed 


454  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

a  German  heart.  I  speak  of  the  great  and  bloody  struggle, 
maintained  in  1813  and  1814  against  Napoleon,  in  order  to 
achieve  again  the  independence  of  Germany.  If  it  is  true 
that  the  Emperor  Alexander  said,  '  The  burning  of  Moscow 
lighted  the  flame  of  religion  in  my  soul,'  many  others  can 
hold  nearly  the  same  language.  1  was  then  a  youth  when 
Germany  was  called  to  contend  for  her  freedom ;  but  I  well  re- 
member that  this  memorable  event  awakened  religious  desires 
in  hearts  which  had  remained,  till  then,  strangers  to  every 
Christian  sentiment.  Every  one  was  penetrated  with  this 
thought,  that  if  aid  came  not  from  on  high,  no  aid  is  to  be 
expected  on  earth,  and  that  the  moment  was  come  for  the 
display  of  the  eternal  justice  which  governs  the  world.  The 
inhabitants  of  Prussia,  in  particular,  turned  their  attention  to 
religion ;  and  from  that  period  the  heart  of  the  King  of  Prus- 
sia was  opened  to  the  truths  of  Christianity.  Germany  be- 
gan to  feel  that  she  could  not,  in  such  grave  and  painful  cir- 
cumstances, forsake  the  piety  of  our  fathers.  They  were 
taken  for  models;  but  it  was  perceived,  that  to  have  their 
confidence  in  God,  and  their  courage  in  dangers,  it  was  also 
necessary  to  resume  their  faith,  and  that  thus  a  new  sap 
might  circulate  in  all  branches  of  our  Protestant  Churches. 

"  Inquiries  and  reflections  were  directed  anew  to  the  grand 
period  of  the  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
Rationalists  had  almost  entirely  effaced  the  remembrance  of 
this  glorious  time,  and  seemed  to  despise  it  as  a  period  of 
ignorance  and  barbarism.  Two  distinguished  theologians 
assured  me,  that  during  the  whole  course  of  their  studies  in 
the  Universities  of  Halle  and  Wirtemberg,  they  had  hardly 
once  heard  a  quotation  borrowed  from  the  writings  of  the 
Reformers !  But  as  soon  as  Germany  returned  to  evangeli- 
cal sentiments,  a  great  change  appeared  in  this  respect. 
The  writings  of  Luther,  Zwinglius,  Melancthon,  and  Calvin, 
were  reprinted  by  thousands  of  copies.  Ecclesiastics  and 
laymen  read,  with  serious  attention,  these  monuments  of  the 
piety  of  the  Reformers,  and  tried  to  return  with  them  to  the 
unity  of  the  faith. 

"  Here  should  be  mentioned  the  festival  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, celebrated  in  1817.  Then,  especially,  sermons,  books, 
lectures  of  Professors,  all  our  theology,  was  impregnated 
with  the  opinions  and  language  of  our  pious  ancestors.  See 
what  abundant  fruits  this  evangelical  spirit  has  borne  for 
twenty  years  in  our  Church!  What  department  of  Theo- 
logical science  does  not  now  possess  books  written  in  a 


OF    FRANCE.  455 

Christian  spirit?  How  many  excellent  works  of  piety  dif- 
fuse among  thousands  of  hearers  or  readers  the  love  of  sacred 
things?  There  are,  in  the  north  and  south  of  Germany, 
presses  wholly  employed  in  the  publication  of  books  com- 
posed by  true  friends  of  the  Gospel.  How  many  associa- 
tions, religious  and  philanthropic,  and  founded  on  principles 
of  Christian  love !  Recollect  our  Societies  for  Sunday  schools, 
for  orphans,  for  the  amelioration  of  prisons,  for  the  education 
of  children ! 

♦'Traverse  all  Germany;  inquire  into  the  origin  of  her 
institutions,  and  you  will  be  convinced  that  they  owe  their 
existence  to  the  revival  of  rehgion.  True,  the  old  school  of 
Rationalists  have  still  some  organs  in  our  literature;  but 
their  influence  is  feeble,  their  authority  diminishes  every 
day,  and  though  they  do  not  admit  that  their  last  hour  ap- 
proaches, the  fact  is  not  less  certain.  The  feebleness  of  the 
Rationahst  journals  may  be  seen,  by  considering  to  what 
miserable  sliifts  they  are  put  to  attract  public  attention. 
They  do  not  scruple  to  employ  personalities,  slanders,  and 
scandal,  in  favour  of  their  cause,  as  if  these  were  proper 
arms  to  defend  a  system  attacked  on  all  hands  by  most 
powerful  antagonists. 

"I  say  with  all  assurance,  if  we  look  attentively  at  the 
present  state  of  our  theology  and  our  piety,  we  shall  be  con- 
vinced that  a  new  period  is  open  to  the  extension  and  estab- 
lishment of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Is  it  not  the  same  in  other 
countries  of  the  Christian  world  ?  Every  where  there  is  a 
movement  bringing  back  the  present  generations  to  the  faith 
of  their  predecessors — to  the  faith  of  the  Reformers,  the 
martyrs,  and  apostles.  Every  where  war  is  maintained 
vigorously  against  the  lax  opinions  of  Deism  and  Rationalism. 
Look  at  France,  Holland,  Denmark,  Sweden,  the  German 
Provinces  of  Russia — at  England,  Scotland,  North  America. 
In  all  these  countries  two  parlies  exist,  and  the  Gospel  gains 
ground  over  its  adversaries.  One  Protestant  country  alone 
seems,  at  least  in  part,  to  remain  at  present  unaffected  by 
this  general  movement:  I  speak  of  Hungary.  Is  it,  then,  by 
chance  that  from  Petersburg  to  the  Alps,  and  from  France 
to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  a  new  spirit  animates  the 
world?  No:  we  must  be  convinced  that  God  is  preparing 
great  things  for  his  Church ;  that  he  is  opening  a  new  period, 
in  which  learning  will  be  reunited  to  piety,  and  that  magnifi- 
cent destinies  are  reserved  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Per- 
haps Cliristianity  will  yet  sustain  rude  shocks,  pass  through 


456  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

the  fire  of  persecution,  and  submit  to  the  baptism  of  blood ; 
but  it  will  be  purified,  strengthened  by  these  trials,  and  will 
assert  its  empire." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FROM  1792  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME,   1840. 

Many  men  entertain  the  notion  that  it  is  only  religious  par- 
ties who  are  intolerant  and  persecuting,  and  that  ihe  irreli- 
gious and  the  infidel  are  liberal,  and  lovers  of  freedom.  It 
would  not  be  difficult  to  show,  on  principles  of  reason,  that 
such  an  idea  is  altogether  unfounded,  and  that  only  true 
Christianity  can  make  men  really  respect  aright  the  privi- 
leges of  others.  Nor  would  it  be  difficult  to  gather  from  the 
writings  of  infidels,  ancient  and  modern,  ample  evidence, 
that  they  are  essentially  intolerant  of  divine  truth  and  its 
friends.  It  w^ould  be  easy  to  show,  for  instance,  that  Hume, 
throughout  his  w^hole  History,  palliates  the  persecutor  and 
blackens  the  persecuted,  where  living  Christianity  is  associa- 
ted with  the  latter;  that  Voltaire  condemns  the  suffering 
Protestants  of  France  as  weak  and  obstinate  men,  because 
they  endured  persecution,  while  he  extols  Galileo  as  a  mar- 
tyr, though  he  was  guilty  of  a  cowardly  recantation  of  which 
the  poorest  Protestant  would  have  been  ashamed.  We  might 
quote,  too,  the  following  remarkable  passage  from  Rousseau, 
in  a  published  letter  to  D'AIembert,  where,  speaking  of  what 
he  calls  fanaticism,  but  what  we  might  probably  call  true 
religion,  he  says,  "Fanaticism  is  not  an  error,  but  a  blind 
senseless  fury,  which  reason  can  never  keep  within  bounds. 
The  only  way  to  hinder  it  from  spreading,  is  to  restrain 
those  who  broach  it.  In  vain  is  it  to  demonstrate  to  madmen 
that  they  are  deceived  by  their  leaders  ;  still  will  they  be  as 
eager  as  ever  to  follow  them.  I  see  but  one  way  to  stop  its 
progress,  and  that  is  to  combat  it  with  its  own  weapons. 
Little  does  it  avail  either  to  reason  or  convince.  You  must 
lay  aside  philosophy,  shut  your  books,  take  up  the  sword, 
and  punish  the  knaves."  These  sentiments  occur  in  a  letter 
in  which  he  praises  pacific  dispositions,  and  denounces  per- 
secution !  Such  is  the  consistency  of  infidel  philosophers. 
But  it  is  unnecessary  to  appeal  to  the  writings  of  infidelity; 
her  practice,  in  the  treatment  alike  of  Roman  Catholics  and 


OP    FRANCE.  457 

Protestants,  in  the  course  of  the  French  Revolution,  has 
settled  for  ever  the  question  of  her  tolerant  spirit.  On  the 
twentieth  of  September,  the  National  Convention  abolished 
the  Sabbath,  a  day  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  every  Christian,  by 
decreeing  a  new  division  of  the  year.  The  decree  runs  in 
these  words: 

*'That  the  era  of  the  French  shall  be  reckoned  from  the 
foundation  of  the  Republic,  which  took  place  twenty-second 
September  1792  ;  that  the  Christian  or  vulgar  era  is  abolish- 
ed; that  the  year  is  divided  into  twelve  months,  each  of 
thirty  days,  after  which  five  days  shall  ensue,  ^yhich  shall 
make  part  of  no  month  whatever.  Each  month  shall  be 
divided  into  three  parts  of  ten  days  each.  The  months  shall 
bear  the  names  of  the  Liberty  and  Equality  of  the  people,  of 
the  Regeneration  of  the  Mountain,  of  the  Republic,  of  the 
Tennis  Court  of  Unity,  of  Fraternity,  of  the  Pikes,  of  the 
Sans  Culottes,  &:c.,  &c.  The  days  shall  bear  the  name  of 
the  level  of  liberty,  of  the  national  cockade,  of  tlie  plough, 
of  the  compass,  of  the  fasces,  of  cannon,  of  oak,  of  rest,"  &:c., 
&c.  The  report  on  which  this  decree  proceeded  is  said  to 
have  been  made  up  by  the  first  French  astronomers,  and  was 
received  by  the  Convention  with  bursts  of  applause. 

It  may  be  said  that  a  Government  is  entitled  to  make  what 
division  of  the  year  it  pleases,  and  that  this  involves  no  per- 
secution; but  what  did  Infidelity  do  as  soon  as  she  had 
changed  the  week  into  a  decade,  or  a  period  of  ten  days? 
She  ordered  reclaiming  merchants  to  keep  open  their  shops 
on  the  Sabbath,  under  the  penalty  of  being  considered  sus- 
pected persons  if  they  dared  to  shut  them;  and  it  is  com- 
manded that  religious  exercises,  instead  of  being  observed  on 
the  Sabbath,  shall  be  celebrated  on  the  last  day  of  the  decades. 
The  municipality  of  Paris  decreed,  "That  all  the  churches 
or  temples,  of  whatever  religion  or  worship  existing  in  Paris, 
shall  be  instantly  shut;  and  that  every  individual  who  should 
seek  for  the  opening  of  a  church  or  temple,  shall  be  arrested 
as  a  suspicious  person."  It  was  decreed  by  the  Convention, 
that  a  colossal  monument  should  be  raised  in  the  great  hall  of 
the  commonalty  of  Paris,  to  proclaim  the  suppression  of  all 
religious  worship;  to  bear  on  its  front  the  word  Light,  on 
its  breast  Nature  and  Truth,  and  on  its  arms  Strength  and 
Courage.  A  deputation  of  citizens  from  the  department  of 
Cantal  addressed  the  Convention  in  these  terms;  "One 
thing  is  wanting  to  the  Revolution — one  department  has  been 
eager  to  give  an  example  of  philosophy — we  have  suppressed 


458  PROTESTANT  CHUBCH 

priests  and  their  worship.  The  Eternal  will  have  among 
us  no  other  temples  than  our  hearts,  and  no  other  worship 
than  acts  of  civism."  When  the  goddess  of  Reason,  in  the 
person  of  a  prostitute,  was  worshipped,  the  multitude  ex- 
claimed, "  No  more  altars  !  No  more  priests  !  No  other  God 
but  a  God  of  Nature  !"  "  In  the  wretched  city  of  Lyons,  not 
only  was  public  worship  suppressed,  and  the  churches  de- 
filed, but  the  most  gross  outrage  was  committed  on  every 
thing  sacred.  On  the  tenth  of  November,  an  ass,  dressed 
out  in  a  sacerdotal  habit,  was  led  in  procession  through  the 
town  by  two  sans  culottes,  carrying  a  sacred  cup,  out  of 
which  they  gave  the  animal  drink;  and  when  they  arrived 
at  one  of  the  public  edilices,  Bibles  books  of  devotion,  &c., 
&c.,  were  piled  up  in  a  heap,  which  was  set  on  fire  amidst 
horrid  shouts  from  a  vast  concourse  of  people,  '  Long  live 
the  Sans  Culottes  !'  " 

It  was  not  mere  Popery  which  was  put  down:  Protestan- 
tism shared  the  same  fate.  The  doctrines  of  a  future  state 
and  day  of  judgment  were  derided — the  Sabbath  abolished — 
public  worship  prohibited — the  Book  of  God  consumed  to 
aslies — Christianity,  as  a  whole,  nationally  disowned  and 
contemned— the  worship  of  Nature  and  Reason  alone  allowed. 
Indeed,  during  the  reign  of  Terror,  the  Protestants  were 
proportionally  more  persecuted  than  the  Roman  Catholics. 
Out  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  guillotined  in  the  district  of 
Gard,  one  hundred  and  seventeen  were  Protestants — many 
of  them  persons  of  wealth  and  consideration. 

Many  good  men,  both  in  this  country  and  on  the  Conti- 
nent, imagined  that  the  French  Revolution  was  to  prove  the 
handmaid,  as  well  as  the  harbinger,  of  true  religion  ;  and 
when  the  aged  Protestant  pastor  Rabaut  was  seated  in  the 
chair  of  the  National  Convention  in  1790,  it  might  well  be 
esteemed  a  wonderful  triumph  over  former  prejudice  and 
persecuiion;  but  the  freedom  was  as  brief  as  it  was  baseless. 
Soon  did  infidelity  show  its  native  ferocity — its  unquenchable 
hatred  to  the  truth  and  cause  of  God  in  every  form ;  so  that, 
as  has  been  well  said  by  Mr.  Haldane,  "  the  little  finger  of 
this  monster  was  found  to  be  thicker  than  its  predecessor's 
loins."  It  might  have  been  imagined  that  infidelity,  which 
boasted  so  much  of  philanthropy,  would  have  been  kind  to 
the  Protestants,  as  a  party  which  had  suffered  long  and 
severely  at  the  hands  of  the  Romish  Church.  But,  no.  The 
religious  Protestant  meetings,  which  had  been  connived  at 
under  Louis  XVI.,  were  utterly  prohibited.     Every  private 


OF    FRANCE.  459 

library  was  plundered  of  its  religious  books.  Any  of  the 
writings  of  the  good  old  authors  of  the  Protestant  Church, 
which  had  survived  the  fury  of  Popery,  were  destroyed, 
or  if  saved,  were  saved  only  by  being  buried  under  ground, 
and  hence  their  scarcity  and  expense.  One  of  the  Protest- 
ant pastors  was  compelled  to  make  gunpowder  in  his  own 
church  on  the  Lord's  day.  Wherever  a  Bible  could  be  found 
it  might  be  said  to  be  persecuted  to  death;  so  much  so,  that 
several  respectable  commentators  interpret  the  slaying  of  the 
two  witnesses  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse,  of 
the  general  suppression,  nay,  destruction,  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  in  France  at  this  period.  The  fall  of  the 
witnesses  is  to  be  accompanied  with  national  rejoicings;  and 
it  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that  twenty-six  theatres  in 
Paris  were  open  and  filled  to  overflowing,  at  a  season  when, 
in  a  single  month  (July,  1794,)  not  less  than  eight  hundred 
persons,  of  chief  consideration,  perished  by  the  guillotine  in 
the  metropolis  alone.  It  is  not  my  object  to  go  into  the  hor- 
rors of  the  French  Revolution;  that  were  foreign  to  the  de- 
sign of  these  chapters.  It  is  only  so  far  as  they  have  a  bear- 
ing upon  the  Protestant  Church  that  1  have  been  called  to 
notice  them.  The  simple  fact  which  is  stated  by  Mr.  Alison, 
in  his  able  "  History  of  the  French  Revolution,"  that  so  early 
as  1792  the  Convention  had  absorbed  more  than  two-thirds 
of  the  landed  property  of  the  country,  owing  to  the  perpetual 
confiscation  of  the  estates  of  the  emigrant  nobility,  and  that 
human  life  was  sacrificed  at  the  rate  of  one  thousand  lives 
per  day,  may  satisfy  any  one  that  the  persecutions  of  Infi- 
delity were  of  the  most  appalling  kind.  A  spot  is  still  shown 
near  the  Notre  Dame  in  Paris,  where  women  were  as  busy 
in  the  use  of  the  guillotine  as  men ;  and  the  only  difl^erence 
between  the  two  was,  that  the  women  tucked  up  their  sleeves 
for  the  work  of  blood. 

It  is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  moral  retribution  of 
Heaven,  that  the  journalists,  who  were  all  infidels,  and  most 
active  agents  in  pressing  forward  the  Revolution,  sufi'ered 
most  severely  in  the  hurricane  which  they  were  instrumental 
in  awakening.  Infidelity  had  its  punishment  even  in  a  present 
life.  It  has  been  stated,  and  1  believe  the  statement  is  correct, 
that  all  the  Presidents  of  the  National  Convention,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  were  journalists — men  connected  with  the 
press,  and  using  it  as  tlieir  great  weapon;  and  the  following 
were  their  fortunes: — Out  of  sixty-three  who  were  raised  to 
the  President's  chair,  eighteen  were  guillotined;  three  com- 


460  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

mitted  suicide;  eight  were  transported;  six  were  imprisoned 
for  life;  four  became  mad,  and  died  at  Bicetre,  an  hospital 
for  the  insane;  twenty-two  were  declared  outlaws;  and  only- 
two  escaped  a  heavy  infliction  of  some  kind.  In  eight  short 
years,  from  1789  to  1797,  at  least  one-half  of  the  political 
writers  of  Paris,  who  were  also  infidels,  perished  by  violence. 
But  it  should  never  be  forgotten,  that  whatever  may  have 
been  the  instrumental  causes  of  the  Revolution — such  as  the 
anti-social  influence  of  infidelity,  and  the  return  of  soldiers 
from  a  country  where  republican  principles  had  just  been 
triumphant,  and  the  gross  mismanagement,  abuses,  and  des- 
potism of  the  Government  at  home — that  the  real  and  efficient 
moral  causes  are  to  be  found  in  the  protracted  persecution, 
and  almost  destruction,  of  the  Evangelical  Church  of  France. 
Mere  political  writers  may  not  enter  into  such  views ;  but  to 
those  who  make  the  Word  of  God  iheir  standard  of  judg- 
ment, they  are  the  only  sound  ones.  It  was  to  be  expected 
that  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  would  not  allow  the  blood 
of  so  many  hundreds  and  thousands  of  His  saints  to  be  poured 
forth  without  challenge — that  He  would  punish  the  nation 
which,  without  reason,  oppressed  and  massacred  those  dear 
to  Him  as  the  apple  of  His  eye.  This  is  a  principle  of 
government  to  which  the  history  of  the  world  bears  ample 
testimony.  The  persecutors  of  the  saints  are,  in  their  turn, 
almost  always  suff"erers;  and  the  course  of  events  in  bringing 
about  this  result  in  France,  strikingly  showed  that  it  was 
indeed  the  persecution  of  the  Church  which  was  the  remote 
cause  of  the  Revolution.  What  produced  the  infidelity  which 
awoke  and  carried  through  that  dread  event?  It  was  the 
burying  of  the  Bible — the  extinguishing  of  that  visible  Church 
which  alone  presented  Christianity  in  a  light  which  com- 
mended it  to  the  conscience,  and  admitted  of  vindication  be- 
fore intelligent  minds.  What  chance  had  the  absurdities  of 
the  Breviary  against  Voltaire? 

It  should  be  remembered,  that  by  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  six  hundred  evangelical  churches  were  at 
once  destroyed — a  discipline,  which  had  maintained  a  large 
body  of  people  in  remarkable  purity  of  morals,  broken  up — 
several  hundred  thousands  driven  into  exile — a  million  and 
a  half,  including  thousands  of  children,  left  uneducated,  to 
wander  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  in  the  midst  of  wolves. 
Let  it  be  considered,  also,  that  the  many  and  powerful  con- 
troversial writings  of  the  Protestant  Church  had  laid  bare 
all  the  weaknesses,  and  absurdities,  and  tricks  of  the  Church 


OF    FRANCE.  461 

of  Rome;  and  that  while  all  good  books  were  buried  or  pro- 
hibited, the  press  did  nothing  for  half  a  century  among  an 
acute  and  inquiring  people,  alive  to  the  ludicrous,  than  pour 
forth  a  torrent  of  licentious  and  sarcastic  scepticism.  Need 
we  wonder  at  the  infidel,  immoral,  atrocious  result!  Mark 
the  justice  of  God.  Popery,  by  destroying  Protestantism, 
let  loose  and  gave  encouragement  to  infidelity,  which,  in  its 
turn,  brought  on  a  frenzied  political  Revolution,  which  over- 
threw Popery  and  trampled  it  in  the  dust.  It  was  only  a 
warm,  zealous,  evangelical  Church,  and  a  well  educated  Pro- 
testant clergy,  which  could  have  successfully  contended  with 
scepticism  and  unbelief;  and  both  were  wanting;  yea,  their 
opposites  were  present.  Thus  did  Christ  avenge  the  wrongs 
of  His  saints.  He  punished  the  persecutor  with  infidelity  in 
religion,  and  anarchy  and  revolution  in  the  political  relations 
of  society.  He  showed  the  most  powerful  enemies  that 
they  cannot  injure  the  humblest  of  His  people  with  impunity. 
But  to  return.  How  could  a  Christian  Church  be  expected 
to  live,  and  far  less  to  flourish,  amid  such  confusion  and 
slaughter  as  the  French  Revolution?  For  ten  years,  the 
Protestant  religion,  and  all  religion,  might  be  said  to  be  al- 
most extinguished.  During  the  greater  part  of  this  period 
there  was  no  Sabbath.  Time  was  regulated  by  decades  ;  and 
what  must  be  the  condition  of  a  Christian  Church  which  is 
a  stranger  to  the  Sabbath  ?  The  interpreters  of  prophecy, 
who  think  the  slaying  of  the  witnesses  fulfilled  in  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Scriptures,  have  remarked  that,  agreeably 
to  the  prophecy  of  the  raising  up  of  the  witnesses  in  three 
years  and  a  half,  there  was  a  favourable  enactment  in  1797, 
under  the  head  of  "  Revision  of  the  Laws  relative  to  Reli- 
gious Worship,"  in  virtue  of  which  all  citizens,  Protestants 
as  well  as  Roman  Catholics,  might  purchase  or  hire  edifices 
for  the  free  exercise  of  religious  worship,  and  that  without 
laying  ministers  under  any  test  or  restriction.  Whatever 
mitigation  of  the  universal  persecution  this  may  have  afibrd- 
ed,  there  can  be  little  question  that  it  was  not  till  1802,  or 
ten  years  from  the  beginning  of  the  Republic,  that  any  steps 
decidedly  advantageous  to  the  Protestant  cause  can  be  said 
to  have  been  adopted.  Previous  to  this,  the  poverty  of  the 
Protestants,  in  a  great  measure,  prevented  them  from  buying 
or  hiring  places  of  worship,  and  so  availing  themselves  of 
any  favourable  change  which  may  have  occurred ;  but  now 
that  the  bloody  republic  of  infidelity  was  over,  and  the  con- 


462  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

sulship  of  Bonaparte  begun,  an  important  measure  of  tole- 
ration was  passed.  It  was  found,  after  trial,  that  a  nation 
could  not  do  without  religion.  The  human  mind,  weary 
with  the  uncertainties  and  horrors  of  infidelity,  longed  for 
peace,  and  turned  towards  the  old  superstition.  At  the  same 
time,  a  large  body  of  the  conquered  subjects  of  the  French 
sceptre  were  Protestant  in  their  religious  profession;  hence 
it  was  desirable  for  this,  as  well  as  other  reasons,  that  the 
Protestants  of  France  should  be  well  treated.  It  was  by  the 
treatment  measured  out  to  them  that  Protestants  of  other 
parts  of  Europe  were  to  learn  what  they  themselves  were  to 
expect.  Napoleon  saw  the  force  of  this ;  and  while  peace, 
by  a  celebrated  concordat,  was  established  between  the  French 
Government  and  the  Pope  of  Rome,  the  Reformed  Church 
was  favoured  with  a  protection  and  countenance  to  which  it 
had  been  long  a  stranger.  I  cannot  omit  one  or  two  sentences 
from  the  speech  of  Portalis,  Minister  of  Public  Worship,  on 
the  restoration  of  religion  in  France. 

*'  It  is  religion  alone  that  affords  a  consolation  for  the  in- 
equality of  rank,  for  chagrin  and  affliction,  that  collects  and 
relieves  from  their  fatigues  the  inhabitants  of  an  immense 
territory.  The  Government  could  not,  therefore,  hesitate  to 
adopt  an  institution  which  makes  the  most  essential  truths 
the  domains  of  the  public  conscience,  which  calms  every 
mind,  which  calls  all  men  to  justice  and  humanity,  and  es- 
tablishes equality  among  all  ranks.  Christianity  has  the 
sanction  of  time  and  the  respect  of  nations,  and  though  it  is 
distinguished  into  Catholic  and  Protestant,  these  are  only  two 
branches  from  the  same  trunk.  Christianity  has  civilized 
Europe;  it  has  created  a  social  disposition  in  the  countries 
where  it  has  penetrated;  it  connects  itself  with  the  progress 
of  the  arts  and  sciences." 

In  accordance  with  these  views  of  the  importance  of  reli- 
gion, the  First  Consul  went  in  great  pomp  to  Notre  Dame, 
from  which  the  altar  of  infidelity  was  removed  in  order  to 
honour  Christianity.  The  statue  of  Mars  was  displaced  from 
the  Temple  of  the  Invalids,  churches  were  reopened,  and 
the  Sabbath  restored  to  its  ancient  rule.  With  regard  to  the 
Protestants,  they  were  well  received  at  the  seat  of  power. 
Bonaparte  graciously  addressed,  and  promised  them  an  am- 
ple toleration.  A  code  of  discipline,  founded  on  their  ancient 
acts  of  Synod,  was  authoritatively  drawn  up  for  their  guid- 
ance.    We  select,  as  a  specimen,  an  interesting  extract  from 


OF    FRANCE.  463 

it  on  the  ministry,  quoted  in  a  paper  on  the  "  History  and 
Prospects  of  the  French  Protestant  Church,"  which  ap- 
peared in  the  "  Christian  Observer"  of  1825. 

*'  The  examination  of  the  candidate  shall  begin  with  a 
theme  in  French,  on  certain  texts  which  shall  be  given  him 
from  the  Scriptures,  and  another  in  Latin,  if  the  Conference 
or  Synod  shall  judge  it  to  be  expedient.  For  each  of  these 
discourses  twenty-four  hours  shall  be  allowed  for  preparation. 
If  the  company  are  satisfied  with  these,  they  shall  examine 
him  in  a  chapter  of  the  New  Testament,  to  ascertain  how 
far  he  understands  and  can  interpret  Greek ;  and  in  the  He- 
brew language  they  shall  examine  whether  he  knows  enough 
of  it  to  enable  him,  at  least,  to  make  use  of  valuable  works 
to  assist  him  in  understanding  the  Scriptures.  To  these  shall 
be  added  a  trial  of  his  knowledge  of  the  most  necessary 
parts  of  philosophy  ;  but  all  in  a  spirit  of  kindness,  and  with- 
out aiming  at  thorny  and  useless  questions.  Finally,  he  shall 
make  a  short  confession  of  his  faith  in  Latin,  and  shall  be 
examined  on  it  by  oral  discussion. 

"Those  who  shall  be  elected  shall  subscribe  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  agreed  upon  amongst  us,  and  also  the  Code  of 
Ecclesiastical  Discipline  in  the  Churches  in  which  they  shall 
be  elected,  and  in  those  to  which  they  shall  be  sent. 

"  The  duty  of  ministers  is  chiefly  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
and  declare  the  Word  of  God  to  their  people.  They  shall 
be  exhorted  to  abstain  from  every  mode  of  instruction  which 
is  not  conducive  to  edification,  and  to  conform  themselves  to 
the  simplicity  and  general  style  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  taking 
care  that  there  shall  not  be  any  thing  in  their  discourses  which 
can  detract  from  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which 
they  shall  generally  follow,  and  from  which  they  shall  take  a 
text  which  they  shall  explain  to  the  best  of  their  ability;  ab- 
staining from  all  unnecessary  amplifications,  from  long  and 
irrelevant  digressions,  from  quoting  a  mass  of  superfluous 
passages,  and  from  a  useless  repetition  of  various  interpreta- 
tions. They  shall  quote  the  writings  of  the  ancient  doctors 
but  sparingly,  and  still  less  profane  history  and  authors. 
They  shall  not  treat  of  doctrines  in  a  scholastic  manner,  or 
with  a  mixture  of  languages ;  in  short,  they  shall  avoid 
every  thing  which  may  lead  to  ostentation,  or  excite  a  sus- 
picion of  it. 

"  The  churches  are  enjoined  to  make  more  frequent  use 
of  the  catechism,  .and  the  ministers  to  explain  it  by  succinct, 
simple,  and  familiar  questions  and  answers,  adapting  them- 


464  '  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

selves  to  the  ignorance  of  the  people,  without  entering  upon 
long  discussions  upon  common-place  subjects.  It  will  also 
be  the  duty  of  ministers  to  catechize  every  individual  of 
their  flocks  once  or  twice  a  year,  and  to  exhort  every  per- 
son to  come  carefully  to  the  examination. 

"  Those  to  whom  God  has  given  talents  for  writing,  are 
exhorted  to  do  so  in  a  modest  manner,  becoming  the  majesty 
of  God,  consequendy  not  to  write  in  a  light  and  injurious 
strain;  which  propriety  and  gravity  they  shall  also  maintain 
in  their  ordinary  style  of  preaching." 

These  were,  all  circumstances  considered,  good  regula- 
tions, much  more  unexceptionable  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, and  much  more  in  keeping  with  Scripture.  For  the 
better  understanding  of  the  position  of  the  Protestant  Church 
at  that  time,  we  add  a  few  more. 

*'  No  doctrine,  nor  alteration  of  doctrine,  shall  be  published 
or  taught,  without  being  first  authorized  by  the  Government. 

"  The  maintenance  of  ministers  shall  be  provided  for, 
wherever  the  property  and  oblations  of  the  communities  fall 
short. 

♦'  The  articles  for  tlie  liberty  of  foundations  in  the  organic 
laws  of  the  Catholic  worship,  shall  be  common  to  the  Pro- 
testant Churches. 

"  There  are  to  be  two  seminaries,  one  in  the  East  of 
France  for  the  instruction  of  ministers  of  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg,  and  the  other  at  Geneva  for  the  Reformed  Church- 
es. The  professors  are  to  be  named  by  the  first  Consul, 
and  no  minister  to  be  appointed  without  a  certificate  of  his 
having  studied  in  the  seminary  of  his  religion.  The  rules 
for  the  government  of  these  seminaries  to  be  also  settled  by 
the  Government. 

"  The  Reformed  Churches  of  France  shall  have  pastors, 
local  consistories,  and  Synods.  There  shall  be  a  consistorial 
church  for  every  six  thousand  souls  of  the  same  communion. 
Five  consistorial  churches  shall  form  the  district  of  a  Synod. 

"  The  number  of  the  ministers  or  pastors  in  the  same 
consistorial  church  cannot  be  increased  without  the  authority 
of  Government. 

"  The  pastors  cannot  resign  without  stating  their  motives 
to  Government,  which  shall  approve  or  reject  them. 

*'  The  title  of  elecdon  shall  be  presented  to  the  First  Con- 
sul for  his  approbation. 

"  All  the  pastors  now  in  exercise  are  provisionally  con- 
firmed. 


OF    FRANCE. 


465 


"  Each  Synod  shall  be  composed  of  a  pastor  and  a  notable 
of  each  church.  The  Synods  shall  superintend  the  celebra- 
tion of  worship  and  conduct  of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  all 
their  decisions  shall  be  submitted  for  the  approbation  of  Go- 
vernment. The  Synods  cannot  assemble  until  they  have 
received  the  permission  of  Government,  and  no  Synodal  As- 
sembly shall  last  more  than  six  days." 

If  the  Church  of  France  had  reason  to  complain  before  of 
the  persecution  of  the  ecclesiastical  power,  she  had  not  less 
reason  now  to  complain  of  the  unscriptural  interference  of 
civil  authority.  The  deliverance  vouchsafed,  and  the  pro- 
tection afforded,  after  a  long  course  of  suffering,  might  tempt 
her  members  to  acquiesce  in  the  jurisdiction  of  Napoleon  in 
sacred  things,  but  nothing  could  be  more  inconsistent  with 
the  spirit  or  requirements  of  the  Word  of  God.  The  very 
fact  of  the  Protestant  Church  so  universally  and  tamely  sub- 
mitting to  it,  is  a  plain  proof  that  her  people  had  lost  much 
of  the  religion  for  which  they  were  once  distinguished.  It 
would  have  been  bad  enough  to  have  given  such  a  power 
as  that  of  determining  what  doctrines  were  to  be  taught — 
the  number  of  ministers — their  appointment — the  judging  of 
their  dissensions,  and  resignation,  &c.,  to  any  civil  ruler, 
even  the  most  eminently  Christian;  but  to  commit  it  to  the 
hands  of  one  so  unprincipled,  ambitious,  and  wicked  as  the 
First  Consul,  was  in  the  last  degree  unwarrantable.  But 
the  Church  was  daily  becoming  more  and  more  unsound, 
and  irreligious  men  care  not  about  compromises — they  pre- 
fer peace  to  principle.  The  Protestant  Church  might  now 
be  said  to  be  thoroughly  Erastian — one  of  the  great  dangers 
of  the  present  day  to  all  the  Churches  of  Christ.  It  appears 
from  the  statement  of  a  deputation  from  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society  to  France  at  this  period,  that  it  was  estimated 
there  were  not  less  than  from  thirty  thousand  to  forty  thou- 
sand Protestants  in  Paris ;  and  that,  so  far  as  could  be  gather- 
ed, they  were,  as  a  whole,  deplorably  ignorant.  In  proof  of 
this,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  it  required  four  days'  search 
among  the  booksellers'  shops  of  the  metropolis,  ere  a  single 
Bible  could  be  found.  No  wonder  that,  in  such  circum- 
stances, the  Protestants  humbled  themselves,  as  a  Church, 
to  the  most  unworthy  concessions.  The  dread  of  Napo- 
leon's arm,  if  provoked,  might  tend  to  the  same  acquiescence. 

But  while  we  mark  what  was  contrary  to  principle  in  the 
conduct  of  the  Protestant  Church,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of 
the  important  advantages  to  which  her  members  were  now 

30 


466 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


admitted.  They  were  protected  in  the  free  exercise  of  their 
religious  worship,  and  many  public  edifices  were  granted  for 
that  end — some  of  them  being  deserted  Roman  Catholic 
churches,  others  public  barracks,  or  buildings  used  for  simi- 
lar objects.  On  the  Protestants  of  Paris  complaining  to  Na- 
poleon of  their  need  of  places  of  worship,  he  asked  them 
how  many  they  wished,  and  being  informed  that  three  were 
necessary,  he  pointed  to  as  many  Popish  churches,  and  told 
them  at  once  to  assume  them  as  theirs.  Land,  too,  was 
given  to  aid  the  cause  of  this  Church  extension.  Nor  were 
the  pastors  forgotten.  They  were,  like  their  fathers  at  an 
earlier  day,  favoured  with  assistance  from  the  public  purse, 
while  seminaries  were  opened  for  the  instruction  of  young 
men  intended  for  the  ministry.  These  were  most  important 
benefits.  In  some  respects,  indeed,  the  Protestants  were 
more  favoured  than  the  Roman  Catholics.  The  former  en- 
joyed theological  seminaries,  which  were  not  granted  to  the 
latter.  The  Protestant  pastors  at  Paris  were  decorated  with 
the  gold  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  of  which  Roman 
Catholic  priests  of  the  same  rank  could  not  boast.  When 
the  Popish  party  began  to  murmur,  Protestants  were  raised 
at  once  to  the  vacant  offices  of  Minister  of  Public  Worship, 
and  Minister  of  Police — situations  of  great  power  and  re- 
sponsibility— which  afforded  excellent  means  of  protecting 
the  Protestant  cause.  Imperial  edict  after  edict  was  issued 
in  their  behalf;  nor  was  Napoleon  long  in  possession  of  the 
sovereign  authority,  before  he  restored  to  the  Protestant 
Church  the  University  of  Montauban,  of  which  the  Revoca- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  had  deprived  them.  All  this 
was  most  encouraging ;  and  w-hatever  might  be  his  motives, 
called  for  their  devoutest  gratitude  to  God. 

Comparatively  favourable,  however,  as  might  be  the  ex- 
ternal circumstances  of  the  Protestant  Church,  I  need  scarce- 
ly say  that  her  spiritual  character,  which  had  already  dege- 
nerated, continued  still  further  to  decline.  There  were  va- 
rious adverse  influences  at  work.  The  open  reign  of  infidelity 
and  merciless  persecution  for  ten  long  years — the  wide- 
spread horrors  of  civil  and  foreign  war — the  silencing  and 
dispersion  of  the  pastors — the  destruction  of  the  Sriptures 
and  works  of  sound  theology — and,  above  all,  the  education 
of  such  pastors  as  remained,  not  at  a  French  university,  but 
at  Geneva,  or  Lausanne,  or  Strasburg,  where,  long  before 
this  time,  the  Gospel  of  Christ  had  been  supplanted  by  the 
pernicious  errors  of  Pelagius,  and  Arius,  and  Socinus ;  these 


OF    FRANCE.  467 

influences  were  all  hostile  to  the  spiritual  character  of  the 
Protestant  Church.  There  was  every  thing  to  break  down 
its  Christianity,  and  nothing  on  the  other  side  to  raise  or  en- 
large it.  It  was  not  renewed  connection  with  the  State 
under  Napoleon,  unwarrantable  as,  in  many  respects,  the 
terms  of  that  connection  were,  which  wrought  the  mischief. 
The  Church  had,  in  the  purest  and  best  days  of  its  history, 
been  recognized  and  assisted  by  the  State,  and  to  manifest 
advantage;  but  before  the  patronage  of  the  First  Consul 
was  extended,  it  had  lost  its  character,  and  instruments  of 
stiU  further  deterioration  were  in  active  exercise.  All  that 
can  be  said  of  the  protection  and  patronage  of  Napoleon  is, 
that  they  did  not  restore  the  character  of  the  Church — that 
the  Church,  from  far  different  causes,  was  previously  so 
completely  destroyed,  that  she  could  not  avail  herself  of  ad- 
vantages which,  in  other  circumstances,  might  have  been  of 
considerable  importance.  And  even  as  the  case  stood,  though 
the  public  favour  came  too  late  to  do  the  Protestants  any  real 
Christian  good,  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  it  wrought  any 
evil.  The  faithful  men  who  remained  rejoiced  in  their  im- 
proved external  condition;  and  there  was  nothing  in  this 
which  was  adverse  to  their  spiritual  progress. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  show  how  serious  was  the  declen- 
sion under  which  the  Protestant  Church  laboured  in  the  days 
of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, and  the  circumstance  of  being  almost  inaccessible  to 
Christian  influence  from  without,  must  have  deepened  the 
religious  desolation.  The  only  counteractive  and  propitious 
agency,  on  the  other  side,  was  the  institution  of  the  "  Bible 
Society"  and  the  circulation  of  the  French  Scriptures.  What- 
ever may  have  been  the  unhappy  and  culpable  administra- 
tion of  those  in  the  management  at  an  after  period,  there 
seems  to  be  litde  doubt  that  the  diflJ'usion  of  the  Word  of 
God  was  at  that  time  attended  with  important  advantages. 
So  early  as  1810,  we  read  of  four  thousand  copies  of  the 
French  New  Testament  having  been  purchased  and  sent  to 
difl^erent  parts  of  France,  where  they  were  well  received, 
and  of  steps  being  taken  to  publish  an  edition  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament in  the  same  language.  In  every  subsequent  year,  so 
far  as  the  circumstances  of  the  country  would  allow,  the 
same  great  and  good  work  was  carried  forward.  When  the 
peace  came  in  1815,  multitudes  flocked  from  Britain  to  the 
Continent,  from  which  they  had  been  so  long  debarred,  and 
among  these  some  devoted  Christians,  who  made  it  their 


468  TROTESTANT    CHURCH 

care  to  use  all  their  influence  to  diffuse  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
In  this  best  of  all  works  their  labours  were  crowned  wdth 
the  Divine  blessing;  and  from  that  day  down  to  this,  there 
has  been  a  growing  religious  revival  in  the  Protestant  Church 
of  France,  a  shaking  off  of  slumber  and  error,  and  a  return  to 
the  spirit  and  orthodoxy  of  other  days.  The  number  of 
faithful  ministers  has  been  considerably  increased,  and  a 
variety  of  scriptural  means  have  been  put  into  operation, 
which  have  already  achieved  much  good,  and  which  promise 
still  more  in  the  future.  Among  the  persons  who  have 
been  honoured  to  be  useful,  no  one,  I  believe,  has  been  more 
successful  than  Robert  Haldane,  Esq.,  of  Edinburgh,  who 
spent  a  number  of  years  upon  the  Continent,  and  with  great 
wisdom  devoted  much  of  his  care  to  the  instruction  of  the 
young  men  coming  forth  to  the  ministry.  Not  a  few  of  the 
present  ministers  of  the  Genevan,  as  well  as  of  the  French 
Church,  look  up  to  him  as  their  spiritual  father.  The  fol- 
lowing most  interesting  illustration  of  the  power  of  the  Gos- 
pel, in  the  conversion  of  a  French  Protestant  pastor,  is  ex- 
tracted from  Mr.  Haldane's  valuable  work  on  the  "  Evi- 
dences."    It  may  not  be  known  to  many  of  my  readers  : 

"  The  pastor  of  a  French  Protestant  Church,  near  Mar- 
seilles, visited  Montauban  in  the  south  of  France,  in  the 
year  1818,  when  1  resided  there.  On  his  arrival  I  was  intro- 
duced to  him,  and  we  immediately  entered  on  the  subject  of 
the  Gospel.  I  found  him  strongly  fortified  in  his  opposition 
to  the  grace  of  God,  and  learned,  that  on  his  journey  to 
Montauban,  having  heard  of  the  discussions  that  were  agi- 
tated there  respecting  justification,  and  the  way  of  acceptance 
with  God,  he  had  in  various  meetings  entered  keenly  and 
even  violently  into  the  subject,  thinking  it  his  duty  to  op- 
pose, with  all  the  energy  he  possessed,  such  a  doctrine  as 
that  of  justification  by  faith  w^ithout  works.  This  question, 
among  many,  we  fully  discussed  at  our  first  and  subsequent 
interviews.  I  had  not  encountered  one  who  appeared  more 
decidedly  hostile  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  although  he 
was  not  an  Arian  or  Socinian,  but  professed  to  believe  in  the 
divinity  of  Christ.  Having  met  him  one  evening,  I  pro- 
posed that  we  should  take  a  walk  in  the  country.  We  im- 
mediately, as  usual,  commenced  a  discussion  respecting  the 
Gospel,  each  of  us  maintaining  his  own  views  on  the  sub- 
ject. At  length  I  began  to  speak  on  the  all-important  decla- 
ration of  the  Lord  on  the  cross,  '  It  is  finished,'  and  endea- 
voured to  show  from  that  expression  that  every  thing  neces- 


OF   FRANCE.  469 

sary  for  a  sinner's  acceptance  with  God  is  already  accom- 
plished, and  that  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness 
to  every  one  that  believelh.  I  had  only  spoken  a  few  minutes, 
when  it  pleased  God  to  shine  in  his  heart,  givmg  him  the 
light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ.  He  suddenly  stopped,  and  with  extended 
arms,  vehemently  exclaimed,  '  Cest  trop  grand  pour  etre 
vraV — '  It  is  too  great  to  be  true !'  From  that  moment  there 
was  no  more  difference  of  opinion,  no  further  opposition  on 
his  part,  no  more  objections.  In  Christ  he  was  a  new  crea- 
ture ;  old  things  had  passed  away ;  behold  all  things  had  be- 
come new.  It  was  now  all  his  desire  to  hear  more  of  the 
great  salvation.  Our  conversation  in  returning  to  town  was 
most  interesting  and  edifying.  He  remarked  with  earnest- 
ness how  differently  he  would  preach  when  he  should  go 
back  to  his  flock.  He  confessed,  at  the  same  time,  that  he 
had  often  preached  on  texts  in  which  there  was  something 
that  he  had  not  fathomed  *  approfondi,^  and  that  now  he  knew 
what  that  was.  This  is  worthy  of  notice,  as  it  discovers  the 
unsatisfactory  state  of  mind  of  many  who,  professing  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  understand  neither  what  they  say,  nor 
whereof  they  affirm.  He  said  he  wondered  that  his  people 
should  have  had  patience  to  listen  to  such  a  system  as  he 
had  been  endeavouring  for  seven  years  to  inculcate,  so  totally 
different  from  what  he  now  saw  was  the  doctrine  of  the  grace 
of  God.  When  we  parted,  he  who  an  hour  before  hated 
and  opposed  the  doctrine  of  salvation,  was  filled  with  peace 
and  joy  in  believing. 

"  This  happened  on  Friday.  Next  morning  he  called  on 
me  in  the  same  state  of  mind  in  which  I  had  left  him  the 
evening  before,  rejoicing  in  the  grace  of  God;  but  he  said, 
that  being  engaged  to  preach  on  the  Lord's  day,  he  read, 
after  we  parted,  the  sermon  he  had  prepared,  and  found  that 
not  one  sentence  of  it  could  be  made  use  of,  for  it  was  alto- 
gether opposed  to  what  he  was  now  convinced  was  the  truth 
of  the  Gospel.  He  added,  that  he  was  utterly  at  a  loss  what 
to  do,  for  he  was  not  accustomed  to  speak  extempore,  and 
that  the  sermon  he  had  with  him,  and  which  he  had  greatly 
admired,  as  so  well  composed,  he  would  not  on  any  account 
make  use  of.  I  replied  that  I  never  knew  a  case  so  similar 
to  his  as  that  of  the  jailor  at  Philippi,  and  therefore  advised 
him  to  preach  on  his  question  to  the  apostle,  and  the  answer 
he  received,  ♦  What  must  1  do  to  be  saved?'  '  Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.'     After  pausing 


470 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


a  few  moments  he  said  he  would  do  so.  The  place  where 
he  preached  was  at  some  distance  in  the  country;  I  there- 
fore was  not  present;  but  was  informed,  that  his  hearers  who 
had  known  him  before,  listened  with  astonishment,  wonder- 
ing that  he  now  preached  the  faith  which  so  lately  he  des- 
troyed. He  spoke  with  great  feeling  and  power,  and  what 
he  said  made  a  deep  impression  on  those  who  were  present. 
During  the  short  lime  he  remained  at  Montauban  I  had 
several  most  agreeable  conversations  with  him,  and  shall 
never  forget  his  prayer  when  we  parted.  I  never  heard  one 
more  affecting.  It  was  evidently  the  warm  effusion  of  his 
heart,  entirely  different  from  those  studied  and  written  pray- 
ers used  by  many  of  the  French  pastors.  He  referred,  in  a 
very  striking  manner,  to  his  conversion,  and  to  his  former 
and  present  state,  confessed  the  great  sinfulness  of  his  past 
ministry,  and  prayed  earnestly  for  himself  and  his  flock. 

*'  On  his  return  home  he  passed  through  Montpelier,  where 
he  preached  the  same  sermon  as  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Montauban.  It  produced  an  impression  on  those  who  heard 
him  very  different  from  what  they  had  ever  received  from 
the  discourses  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  listen. 
A  flame  was  instantly  kindled.  The  elders  of  the  consistory 
remonstrated  with  their  own  pastor  in  the  strongest  manner, 
demanding  of  him  how  he  could  employ  one  to  preach  who 
brought  forward  such  doctrines.  He  affirmed  that  these  doc- 
trines were  the  same  which  he  himself  taught.  They  de- 
nied this  most  peremptorily,  and  threatened  to  denounce  him 
to  the  Government.  During  more  than  three  months  the 
greatest  agitation  prevailed  in  his  church.  I  saw  several  let- 
ters which,  in  the  course  of  that  time,  he  wrote  to  his  friends 
at  Montauban,  declaring  his  apprehension,  that  in  the  issue 
he  would  be  dismissed  from  his  charge.  At  length,  how- 
ever, the  storm  subsided,  and  the  preaching  of  the  pastor 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  Marseilles  appeared  to  have  been 
useful. 

"  A  very  different  feeling  was  excited  when  the  account 
of  the  conversion  of  this  pastor  was  carried  to  his  father,  a 
man  above  eighty  years  of  age.  I  afterwards  saw  another 
pastor  who  happened  at  the  time  to  be  at  his  house  on  a 
visit.  It  was  truly  affecting,  he  said,  to  see  the  old  man 
quite  absorbed  in  the  subject,  and  for  several  days  going 
about  his  house,  clasping  his  hands,  and  joyfully  exclaiming, 
'Tout  est  accompli!' — 'It  is  finished.'  It  is  now  fifteen 
years  since  the  event  above  narrated  took  place,  and  the  pas- 


OF  FRANCE. 


471 


tor  in  question  has  never  wavered  in  his  views  of  divine 
truth.  I  have  heard  of  him  at  different  periods  since  that 
time,  and  learned,  with  much  joy  and  satisfaction,  that  he 
has  continued  a  faithful  minister  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  The  sequel  of  this  history  is  also  very  interesting.  I 
received  the  following  letter,  dated  September  21,  1825,  from 
one  of  the  most  zealous  and  successful  pastors  in  France,  of 
whom  I  had  never  before  heard.  After  a  general  introduc- 
tion, he  says,  '  I  address  myself  to  you  to  communicate  the 
favourable  circumstances  in  which  the  Lord  has  placed  me 
in  respect  to  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  which,  by  his  grace, 
I  exercise.  I  begin  by  telling  you  who  I  am,  and  the 
favours  the  Lord  has  vouchsafed  to  me.  I  pursued  my  first 
theological  studies  at  Lausanne,  in  Switzerland  ;  1  continued 
them  at  the  Faculty  at  Montauban,  where  I  was  ordained  in 
1812.     The  year  after  I  was  appointed  pastor  at 


and  about  the  end  of  1817  I  became  pastor  in  this  place. 
Till  the  month  of  August,  1822,  I  was  only  a  blind  man 
leading  those  who  were  blind.  Much  external  zeal  without 
knowledge,  a  vain  noise  of  life,  {loi  vain  bruit  cle  vivre,) 
and  a  profound  wretchedness,  (misere  profonde,)  which  I 
did  not  feel  I  Such  is  what  1  possessed.  {Voila  ce  que  je 
possedais.)     At  the  above  period  I  went  to  visit  my  former 

fldck  at ,  where  I  saw,  after  nine  years  of  separation, 

one  of  your  spiritual  children,  my  old  fellow-student.'  (The 
pastor  above  referred  to.)  '  lie  became,  in  the  hand  of  God, 
the  instrument  of  my  deliverance.  I  then  learned  the  great 
mystery  of  godliness,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh;  and,  trans- 
ported out  of  myself  by  the  joy  of  my  salvation,  I  returned 
to  my  church,  where  since  then  the  Lord  has  given  me  grace 
to  render  testimony  to  him,  and  to  advance  a  little,  but  very 
little,  in  the  knowledge  of  him.  In  spite  of  the  opposition 
which  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  my  imprudent  zeal 
excited  in  the  bosom  of  my  flock,  and  in  spite  of  my  own 
unfaithfulness  and  coldness,"^  {mes  infidelites  et  mes  giaces,) 
with  which  I  am  often  affected,  the  Word  has  nevertheless 
produced,  and  does  produce,  every  day  its  effects.  A  goodly 
number  of  parishioners  confess  the  Saviour,  whose  infinite 
compassion  they  have  experienced;  and,  in  general,  all  are 
more  seriously  attending  to  the  Gospel.  I  can  give  you  but 
a  faint  idea  of  the  field  which  the  Lord  has  opened  before 
me,  and  of  the  progress  which  the  Gospel  might  make  if 
that  field  were  better  cultivated.     But  I  am  alone  with  the 


472 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


Lord.     All  my  colleagues  of  the  department  are  indifferent 
(froids)  about  the  one  thing  needful.'  " 

But  it  will  be  necessary  to  be  a  little  more  particular  as  to 
the  present  state  and  character  of  the  Reformed  Church  of 
France.  The  degeneracy  had  been  very  general,  and  down 
to  a  recent  period,  comparatively  speaking,  almost  unbroken. 
In  1819,  a  French  preacher  of  intelligence  and  piety  estimated 
the  number  of  faithful  men  in  the  Protestant  Church,  as  not 
exceeding  ten,  and  as  exerting  a  salutary  influence  only  over 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand  souls,  out  of  a  general  popu- 
lation of  twenty-seven  millions.  The  overthrow  of  Napoleon, 
though  deeply  deplored  by  the  Protestants  generally,  as 
exposing  them  anew  to  the  violence  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
people,  if  not  to  the  persecution  of  the  Bourbon  Government, 
does  not  seem  to  have  affected  the  spiritual  character  of  the 
Church.  The  ministers  and  places  of  worship  may  have 
increased  in  number  under  the  protection  and  fostering  care 
of  Napoleon,  but  there  was  litde  improvement  in  orthodoxy. 
Probably  the  sufferings  occasioned  by  protracted  wars  were, 
in  many  cases,  sanctified  to  the  spiritual  good  of  the  sufferers, 
and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  in  some  remote  and  mountainous 
districts,  the  spirit  of  ancient  piety  survived  after  it  had  dis- 
appeared from  the  more  crowded  city.  Such  secluded 
descendants  of  a  martyred  ancestry  are  referred  to  in  the 
following  interesting  extract  from  the  First  Report  of  the 
"  Paris  Bible  Society,"  a  few  years  ago: 

"  Many  small  tribes  of  Protestants  scattered  over  the  sur- 
face of  France,  appeared  worthy  of  the  attention  and  care  of 
the  Society.  Some  are  without  pastors,  and  without  public 
\yorship.  The  department  de  la  Somme  alone  counts  about 
six  thousand  individuals  in  this  state  of  abandonment  and 
religious  privation ;  yet  among  these  Reformed  Christians,  so 
long  forgotten,  the  faith  of  their  fathers  has  been  preserved 
in  all  its  purity.  For  want  of  sacred  books,  of  which  vio- 
lence had  deprived  their  obscure  families,  and  from  replacing 
which  either  fear  or  poverty  had  prevented  them,  oral  tradi- 
tions have  transmitted,  from  generation  to  generation,  the 
most  interesting  narratives,  the  most  important  lessons,  and 
the  holiest  precepts  of  the  Bible.  Passing  from  the  father 
to  the  children,  prayers  and  hymns — the  most  fervent  and 
the  most  proper  to  nourish  faith  and  hope — have  never  ceased 
to  resound  in  their  cottages,  and  tlie  paternal  benediction  has 
stood  in  place  of  that  of  the  minister  of  the  Lord.     Jn  some 


OF    FKANCE.  473 

instances,  a  sufficient  number  of  these  interesting  individuals 
have  been  brought  together  to  constitute  a  church,  and  to 
claim  an  allowance  for  the  payment  of  a  minister.  In  other 
cases  this  would  have  been  effected  but  for  the  want  of  suit- 
able ministers  to  take  charge  of  congregations." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Davies,  in  his  interesting  "  Letters  from 
France,"  a  few  years  years  ago,  gives  a  striking  picture  of 
another  of  these  suffering  remnants.  "  But  I  must  hasten," 
says  he,  "  to  conclude  this  letter,  embracing  a  greater  variety 
of  topics  than  within  such  limits  could  be  adequately  dis- 
cussed, with  a  brief  account  of  my  visit  to  the  interesting 
little  Protestant  community  of  Cheffresne.  I  stated  in  a  for- 
mer letter,  that  the  present  king  had  kindly  promised  to  use 
his  best  endeavours  to  procure  a  resident  and  settled  minis- 
ter for  this  isolated  band  of  Protestant  professors.  Many  dif- 
ficulties have  arisen  in  the  way  of  carrying  into  execution 
this  generous  engagement.  I  trust,  however,  that  ultimately 
they  will  be  surmounted,  and  that  the  ardent  and  long 
cherished  desire  of  this  very  interesting  body  of  people,  for 
a  fixed  pastor,  will  be  accomplished.     In  the  meantime,  the 

excellent  Baron  de  P ,  who  is  an  elder  of  this  little 

church,  proposed  to  drive  me  over  for  the  purpose  of  visit- 
ing them,  and  spending  a  Sunday  among  them. 

"  On  Saturday,  March  22,  we  accordingly  set  out  for  this 
pleasing  expedition.  At  Ville-Dieu,  situated  about  fifteen 
miles  from  Avranches,  and  within  about  five  miles  of  Cheff- 
resne, we  accidentally  met  one  of  the  people,  who  was  quite 
delighted  with  the  sight  of  my  excellent  and  kind-hearted 
companion.  About  three  miles  on  this  side  of  Cheffresne,  we 
were  met  by  a  fine  elderly  peasant,  quite  such  in  appearance, 
though  he  was,  perhaps  with  one  exception,  the  principal 
landed  proprietor  belonging  to  the  Protestant  church.  His 
name  I  soon  found  to  be  Duchemin.  It  was  really  quite  de- 
lightful to  witness  the  glow  of  honest  pleasure  which  lighted 
up  the  countenance  of  this  frank  and  open-hearted  man, 
when  the  carriage  stopped,  and  he  offered  his  cordial  saluta- 
tion to  the  generous  baron  and  your  poor  friend  the  "  pas- 
teur,"  whom  they  had  been  prepared  to  expect  for  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday.  I  was  immediately  informed  that  either  the 
baron  or  myself  was  to  be  the  guest  of  this  good  man  during 
our  stay  at  Cheffresne.  He  had  gone  to  the  neighbouring 
town  of  Ville-Dieu  on  that  day,  partly  to  prepare  suitable 
provisions  for  his  expected  visitants,  and  pardy  to  be  our 
guide  through  a  rather  difficult  part  of  the  road.    He  walked, 


474 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


or  rather  ran — such  was  the  spring  of  delight  which  seemed 
to  animate  his  frame — by  the  side  of  the  carriage  during  the 
remainder  of  our  journey.  When  we  arrived,  about  seven 
in  the  evening,  at  the  door  of  his  rustic  and  modest  dwelling, 
we  found  a  considerable  number  of  his  friends  and  relatives 
awaiting  us  in  front  of  his  house.  Among  the  rest  was  a 
very  fine  old  man  of  the  name  of  Daniel  Vilaine,  the  neigh- 
bour and  brother-in-law  of  Duchemin.  These  were  the  two 
principal  men  of  the  place  belonging  to  the  Protestant  com- 
munity, and,  from  their  comparatively  superior  rank  and 
influence,  might  jusfly  be  considered  as  the  chief  pillars  of  the 
church.  My  kind  friend  and  companion  had  forewarned  me 
of  the  homely  character  of  the  accommodation  we  were  to 
expect,  and,  from  a  regard  to  my  comfort,  had  taken  with 
him  the  necessary  appendages  of  an  English  breakfast. 
When  that  common  utensil  called  a  tea-kettle  was  brought 
out,  it  was  examined  with  intense  curiosity,  and  it  became 
a  matter  of  amusing  interest  what  could  possibly  be  thefiame 
of  so  singular  a  piece  of  furniture.  The  daughter  of  the 
good  Duchemin,  who  had  gone  over  to  Jersey  some  years 
before  for  the  purpose  of  being  married,  at  once,  with  much 
apparent  satisfaction,  pronounced  it  to  be  a  teach.  Not  to 
dwell,  however,  too  minutely  upon  various  amusing  circum- 
stances connected  with  our  evening's  repast  under  the  hos- 
pitable roof  of  this  generous  villager — as  soon  as  it  was  over, 
M^e  entered  into  conversation  with  Duchemin  and  his  bro- 
ther-in-law, Vilaine,  respecting  the  present  state  and  past 
history  of  Protestantism  in  that  neighbourhood. 

"  These  worthy  men  were  evidently  quite  delighted  to 
narrate  the  horrible  persecutions  which  their  forefathers  had 
encountered  during  a  long  series  of  years,  during,  in  fact, 
the  whole  period  intervening  between  the  infamous  Revoca- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  by  Louis  XIV.,  in  1685,  and 
the  partial  recognition  of  the  civil  rights  of  Protestants,  by 
Louis  XVL,  in  1787.  Our  host  showed  us,  with  deep  and 
reverential  interest,  an  old  Bible  which  had  been  in  the 
family  for  very  many  years,  and  which  must  have  been 
carefully  concealed  during  the  century  of  persecution,  be- 
cause, in  those  days,  it  would  have  exposed  any  one  to  the 
most  imminent  peril  even  to  possess  a  Bible.  Duchemin 
told  me,  that  during  that  era  it  was  a  common  practice  to 
burn  Protestant  heretics  with  their  Bibles  fastened  to  their 
backs.  It  was  also  common  to  tie  large  bundles  behind  them 
to  give  them  the  appearance  of  monsters.    I  was  forcibly  re- 


OF    FRANCE. 


475 


minded  by  this  statement,  of  what  is  well  known  to  have 
been  the  strange  notion  of  the  Romish  persecutors  respecting 
the  Waldenses — that  their  children  were  little  monsters,  hav- 
ing black  teeth  and  other  unnatural  deformities.  On  Sunday- 
morning,  having  slept  at  the  house  of  Vilaine,  I  rose  early  and 
walked  out  into  the  fields.  It  was  a  beautiful  spring  morn- 
ing. The  country,  which  was  rich,  woody,  and  well  culti- 
vated, looked  lovely,  and  the  whole  atmosphere  was  literally 
vocal  with  the  music  of  the  innumerable  feathered  songsters 
which  were  chanting  their  early  carols.  In  returning  to 
the  house  I  met  Duchemin,  accompanied  by  liis  guest,  who 
came  to  breakfast  with  me  at  the  house  of  Vilaine.  When 
I  referred  to  the  charming  melody  with  which  our  ears  were 
delighted,  Duchemin  instantly  took  up  the  remark,  and  with 
a  glowing  countenance,  exclaimed  that  these  little  warblers 
were  all  employed  in  celebrating  their  Maker's  praise,  and 
thus  afforded  us  an  instructive  lesson  of  gratitude  and  love. 
A  little  before  ten  o'clock  we  set  out  for  the  temple,  as  all 
the  Protestant  places  of  worship  are  called  in  France.  Here 
I  must  tell  you,  that,  in  consequence  of  some  misapprehen- 
sion, the  Baron  de  P had  communicated  to  these  good 

people  that  he  would  bring  with  him  a  minister  that  would 
give  them  a  sermon.  Of  this  I  had  not  the  least  idea,  until 
within  two  or  three  days  of  our  journey;  and  when  it  was 
then  mentioned  to  me,  I  was  at  first  disposed  to  shrink  from 
an  attempt  for  which  I  felt  myself,  especially  with  so  short 
a  notice,  to  be  very  inadequate.  Unwilling,  however,  to  dis- 
appoint a  people  who  appeared  to  be  literally  hungering  for 
spiritual  food,  I  prepared  a  short  and  hasty  discourse  founded 
on  the  apo'sde's  reply  to  the  jailer  of  Philippi,  '  Believe  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,'  &c.,  endeavouring  to  embody,  in 
terms  as  simple  and  concise  as  possible,  the  great  doctrine  of 
salvation  through  Christ.  What  some  of  my  ecclesiastical 
brethren  might  have  felt  I  know  not,  but  I  confess  that  any 
scruple  about  the  regularity  of  this  proceeding  never  for  a 
moment  entered  into  my  mind.  In  fact  I  felt  a  secret  satis- 
faction in  forgetting  my  Episcopalian  ism  for  this  day,  and 
identifying  myself  with  the  polity  founded  by  one  whom 
Hooker  describes  as  '  incomparably  the  wisest  man  the 
Church  of  France  ever  produced,'  namely,  John  Calvin. 

"  Having  robed  myself  in  the  usual  vestments  kept  there 
for  the  use  of  occasional  visiters,  and  not  greatly  differing 
from  our  own,  I  was  conducted  into  the  pulpit.  'I'he  chapel 
is  a  very  neat,  plain  little  building,  capable  of  holding  about 


476  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

two  hundred  persons.  The  congregation  was  already  as- 
sembled— men,  women,  and  children,  all  cleanly  though 
very  plainly  attired :  the  women  on  one  side,  with  their  high 
Norman  caps ;  and  the  men  on  the  other,  all  clad  in  short 
blue  cloth  jackets.  The  Service  had  been  already  begun  by 
one  of  the  elders  reading  the  Established  Genevese  Liturgy, 
in  which  I  was  delighted  to  recognize  the  same  great  doc- 
trines of  our  common  faith,  the  same  simple  humiliating  con- 
fession of  guilt,  the  same  simple  reliance  on  the  merits  of  the 
Saviour,  and  the  same  prominency  given  to  the  volume  of 
inspiration,  as  so  strikingly  characterise  our  own.  On  this 
occasion,  two  chapters  of  the  Bible,  with  Ostervald's  reflec- 
tions, were  read.  Here  I  may  be  pardoned  the  expression 
of  a  sentiment  which  forcibly  struck  me  on  the  survey  of  this 
scene — and  after  the  service,  a  similar  remark  was  made  by 
my  benevolent  companion — that  whatever  inconveniences — 
and  I  do  not  wish  to  deny  them — may  attend  a  uniform,  and 
authorized,  and  public  formulary  of  devotions,  yet  in  circum- 
stances like  the  present,  it  is  of  inestimable  value.  Deprived 
as  these  people  have  been,  for  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  of  any  regular  ministry,  how  could  the  worship  of 
God  be  conducted  among  them  without  such  a  provision? 
It  is  in  such  circumstances  that  the  value  of  a  devout  and 
scriptural  liturgy  is  most  distinctly  seen. 

"  At  a  given  signal,  your  unworthy  friend,  '  Mons  le  Pas- 
teur,' pronounced  his  discourse,  which,  with  all  its  imper- 
fections of  style  and  pronunciation,  was  heard  with  the  most 
profound  attention;  and  he  was  never  nearer  being  unduly 
elated  in  his  life,  than  by  the  cordial  and  affectionate  gratu- 
lations  with  which  these  poor  people  crowded  around  him 
after  the  service  was  over.  When  the  benediction  had  been 
pronounced,  my  excellent  friend  distributed  among  the  peo- 
ple a  large  packet  of  '  Burder's  Village  Sermons,'  translated 
into  French ;  and  it  was  delightful  to  see  with  what  heart- 
felt pleasure  these  simple  villagers  received  this  valuable 
boon,  which  they  seemed  to  know  so  well  how  to  appreciate. 
When  this  was  over,  they  showed  us  a  new  piece  of  bury- 
ing-ground  which  they  were  on  tlie  point  of  enclosing,  and 
in  which  they  appeared  to  take  a  deep  interest."* 

*'The  children  sung  some  beautiful  hymns  at  Daniel  Vi- 

laine's,  where  the  party  dined ;  and  there  was  then  another 

service,  at  which  the  Baron  and  elder  read  a  most  admirable 

sermon  by  a  modern  Swiss  divine.     Saurin's  and  Durand's 

*Pp.  157— 163. 


OF    FRANCE.  477 

are  generally  read.  After  service,  the  settlement  of  a  min- 
ister was  eagerly  discussed  ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  even- 
ing, D.  Vilaine  brought  out  some  curious  documents  illus- 
trative of  the  vexations  and  persecutions  which  his  forefa- 
thers had  endured. 

"Among  others,  he  showed  us  a  dispensation  authorizing 
his  grandfather  to  receive  his  son,  the  father  of  D.  Vilaine 
himself,  into  his  family.  At  that  time,  it  was  the  common 
practice  to  carry  off  by  violence  the  children  of  the  Protes- 
tants, in  order  to  bring  them  up  in  the  convents  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  Popery.  I  believe  there  are  some  persons  still 
living  at  Cheflresne,  who  remember  cases  of  this  horrible 
system  of  child-stealing.  When  the  emissaries  of  Govern- 
ment entered  the  village  for  this  purpose,  parents  endeavour- 
ed to  hide  their  little  ones  as  from  the  assaults  of  so  many 
beasts  of  prey ;  and  there  were  frequent  instances  in  which 
Catholic  neighbours,  moved  by  the  voice  of  nature,  assisted 
them  in  their  endeavours.  Vilaine's  father  had  thus  been 
carried  off  in  his  infancy,  to  be  reared  up  in  the  convent  of 
Caen,  where  however,  it  is  fair  to  state,  that  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  he  was  ill  treated,  and,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he 
was  restored  to  his  father,  on  condition,  as  the  document 
specifies,  that  regular  certificates  should  be  sent  of  his  attend- 
ing church,  and  receiving  the  instructions  of  the  priests. 
Another  very  curious  old  record  he  showed  us,  was  a  pope's 
bull,  authorizing  the  marriage  of  Vilaine's  father,  without 
which,  his  children  would  have  been  illegitimate,  and  inca- 
pable of  maintaining  any  civil  right.  He  also  showed  us  a 
copy  of  the  famous  edict  of  Louis  XVI.  issued  in  1787, 
which  may  be  considered  as  the  first,  though  yet  very  ob- 
scure and  glimmering  dawn  of  religious  liberty  in  France. 
The  worthy  old  man  dwelt  upon  these  and  other  matters 
connected  with  the  former  state,  and  the  present  more  favour- 
ed condition,  and  more  animating  prospects  of  the  religion 
he  professed,  with  a  calm  and  chastened  enthusiasm,  in  which 
it  was  impossible  not  to  sympathize,  and  which,  in  my  esti- 
mation, really  gave  a  character  of  sublimity  to  the  whole 
train  of  his  reflections.  V^ith  information  comparatively 
limited,  though  by  no  means  unacquainted  with  the  leading 
features  of  the  history  of  their  country  since  the  era  of  the 
Reformation — with  views  of  the  great  doctrines  of  religion, 
marked  by  considerable  obscurity  and  indistinctness — these 
interesting  people  are  evidendy  actuated  in  general,  not  only 
by  a  fervent  zeal  for  the  Protestant  profession,  but  by  deep 


478 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


devotional  feelings;  and  it  seems  only  to  require  the  foster- 
ing influence  of  an  enlightened  ministry,  in  concurrence  with 
the  Divine  blessing,  to  render  this  isolated  part  of  the  spiritual 
vineyard  an  oasis  in  the  midst  of  a  desert,  verdant  with  the 
streams  of  life,  rich  in  the  fruits  of  righteousness,  and  fra- 
grant as  the  garden  of  the  Lord."* 

In  the  interesting  little  work,  entitled;  "  A  Voice  from 
the  Alps,"  Mr.  Burgess  states,  that  touching  scenes  occa- 
sionally occur,  when  the  recollection  of  other  days  is  awaken- 
ed in  places  where  the  Gospel  had  been  extinguished.  This 
shows  the  value  of  the  traditionary  associations  and  memo- 
rials of  the  martyrs,  and  the  wisdom  of  cherishing  them: 
they  form  a  seed  which  God  may  bless  for  the  revival  of 
evangelical  religion.  At  Troyes,  there  has  recently  been 
reared  a  place  of  Protestant  worship.  This  is  the  town 
where  the  first  Protestant  pastor,  Jean  Dubec,  was  publicly 
burnt  in  1549,  where  the  Popish  bishop  received  the  truth, 
and  a  flourishing  Protestant  church  was  built.  Most  of  the 
members  lived  in  the  same  street,  which,  in  derision,  was 
called  "  The  little  Geneva."  It  is  in  that  very  street  that 
the  present  place  of  worship  has  been  opened,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  its  history  have  lent  a  deep  in- 
terest, and,  it  is  hoped,  a  salutary  impression  to  the  event. 

These  are  interesting  cases;  still,  after  making  every 
favourable  allowance,  the  number  of  faithful  men  in  France 
was  very  small,  and  they  were  loaded  with  reproach  by  their 
own  brethren  as  fools  and  sectaries.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
far  larger  body  of  the  Protestant  pastors  preached  a  mixed 
doctrine,  and  built  upon  a  self-righteous  foundation.  Not  a 
few  of  them  advocated  the  w^orst  errors  of  Neology  and  So- 
cinianism.  The  consequences  of  this  teaching  were  such 
as  might  have  been  anticipated.  The  people  were  ignorant, 
worldly,  and  ungodly.  The  profanation  of  the  Sabbath, 
both  by  pastor  and  flock,  was  almost  universal.  The  theatre 
was  the  usual  termination  of  the  Lord's  day;  so  much  so, 
that  in  some  places  the  Roman  Catholics  blamed  the  Protest- 
ants as  the  chief  supporters  of  theatrical  exhibitions.  One 
eminent  pastor  of  the  Genevan  Church,  so  lately  as  1821, 
published  a  laboured  apology  for  spending  the  Sabbath  even- 
ing in  playing  at  cards, — a  practice  which  was  recently,  and 
for  aught  known  to  the  contrary,  is  still  followed  by  many 
pastors  and  professors  of  divinity  on  that  evening,  though 
they  abstain  from  it  on  other  days.  The  result  of  false  doc- 
*  P.  166. 


OP    FRANCE.  479 

trine,  however  philosophical,  in  Protestant  Germany  was  the 
same.  The  churches  were  emptied — the  Sabbath  desecrated 
— the  theatre  filled. 

Before  proceeding  any  further,  it  is  necessary  to  advert  to 
the  persecution  of  the  French  Protestants  in  1815.  Some 
good  men  may  doubt  the  propriety  of  the  application  of  the 
term  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case ;  and  the  very  fact,  that 
two  such  able  and  excellent  periodicals,  as  the  "  Clirisiian 
Observer"  of  London,  and  the  "  Christian  Instructor"  of 
Edinburgh — the  articles  in  the  latter  written  by  the  late  emi- 
nent Dr.  M'Crie — were  here  ranged  on  different  sides — the 
one  contending  that  there  was  nothing  which  deserved  the 
name  of  religious  persecution,  and  the  other  that  there  was 
much — may  satisfy  us  that  the  suffering,  whatever  it  was, 
was  somewhat  different  in  circumstances  from  that  of  former 
seasons  and  generations.  There  is  no  question,  that  there 
was  much  suffering  among  the  Protestants  of  Nismes  and  its 
vicinity  on  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons — a  greater  amount 
than  is  generally  imagined.  There  were  plunder,  and  vio- 
lence, and  a  loss  of  life,  and  contemplated  massacre.  Though 
the  Protestants  of  Gard,  of  which  Nismes  is  the  capital, 
formed  but  a  third  part  of  the  population,  yet  such  was  the 
creditable  place  which  they  held  in  society,  that  they  were 
proprietors  of  one-half  of  the  land,  and  paid  two-thirds  of  the 
taxes  of  the  district.  This  should  have  recommended  them 
to  public  protection  and  favour;  but  instead  of  this,  they 
were  exposed  to  a  persecution  which  lasted  for  five  protract- 
ed months,  though  the  interference  of  any  of  the  leading 
powers  of  Europe  could  have  crushed  it  in  a  moment.  From 
three  hundred  to  four  hundred  Protestant  lives  were  sacrificed, 
while,  according  to  the  showing  of  the  most  prejudiced  Papists, 
not  above  thirteen  Roman  Catholics  suffered.  One  savage 
boasted  that  he  had  killed  forty  Protestants  with  his  own 
hand.  It  is  certain  that  above  fifty  were  assassinated  in  a 
single  day.  The  indignities  and  atrocities,  too,  perpetrated 
on  respectable  females,  were  worthy  of  the  scenes  of  the 
First  Revolution.  Such  was  the  general  dread,  that  six  thou- 
sand Protestants  left  the  town  of  Nismes  alone;  and  multi- 
tudes were  kept  for  months  in  a  state  of  anxious  suspense, 
more  intolerable  than  death.  Not  indistinct  whispers,  but 
longings  for  a  second  St.  Bartholomew  were  publicly  ex- 
pressed by  not  a  few.  It  need  scarcely  be  added,  that  the 
other  kinds  of  persecution  were  strong  and  wide-spread — 
two  thousand  houses  were  plundered  and  burnt  down — 


480 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


churches  were  shut  up — twenty  pastors  fled  into  exile  for 
safety.  Nor  was  the  oppression  local,  rising  out  of  peculiar 
circumstances.  It  prevailed  in  four  different  departments, 
and  seemed  to  be  dictated  by  a  general  wish  to  reduce  the 
Protestants  to  the  state  of  wretchedness  and  woe  under  which 
they  had  groaned  previously  to  the  Revolution.  Such  was 
the  general  result.  And  what  was  the  cause  which  led  to 
it,  and  who  were  the  persecuting  parties?  It  could  not  be 
true  religion,  as  by  this  time,  with  a  few  exceptions,  it  is 
to  be  feared,  evangelical  religion  had  disappeared  from  among 
the  Protestants,  and  given  place  to  cold-hearted  Neology. 
The  oppression  appears  to  have  been  dictated  by  a  mixture 
of  political,  but  mainly  religious  prejudice  and  animosity. 
It  was  the  deed — not  of  the  government,  or  the  army,  or 
the  Roman  Catholics  as  a  church,  but  of  a  violent  Popish 
and  political  faction — an  infuriated  mob.  The  magistrates 
were  most  culpable  in  not  interfering  as  they  ought  to  have 
done,  and  restraining  this  ultra  party;  and  also,  in  not  pun- 
ishing so  much  as  one  of  the  ringleaders ;  but  they  do  not 
appear  to  have  wilfully  countenanced  them.  The  truth  is, 
that  the  faction  seem,  for  a  lime,  to  have  been  too  strong  for 
the  authorities,  even  backed  by  the  troops.  It  was  not  the 
Protestants  only  who  suffered;  some  of  the  soldiers  who 
were  Roman  Catholics  were  violently  assailed.  Whatever 
might  be  the  motive,  the  Protestants  were  the  chief  sufferers ; 
and  the  fact  of  their  being  so  violently  attacked,  when  they 
had  lost  their  truly  religious  character,  and  therefore  pos- 
sessed only  the  name  of  Protestant,  is  a  striking  proof  how 
deadly  w^as  the  Popish  hatred  to  all  that  savoured  of  Protest- 
antism, that  the  very  name  was  sufficient  to  kindle  their 
enmity  into  a  conflagration.  It  is  pleasing  to  think,  that  the 
manliness  and  courage  of  not  a  few  of  the  Protestants  were 
so  great,  that  when  to  confess  themselves  of  the  Reformed 
Church  was  immediate  death,  they  yet  boldly  declared  their 
Protestantism.  The  Papists  of  France,  though  the  proceed- 
ings of  1815  are  little  to  their  honour,  would,  perhaps,  be 
glad  to  identify  the  sufferings  of  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth, 
and  eighteenth  centuries  with  them,  and  to  represent  the 
protracted  persecution  of  the  saints  of  God,  in  early  times, 
as  the  mere  ebullition  of  popular  violence,  which  no  Church 
or  Government  can  restrain.  There  is,  therefore,  the  more 
need  that  Protestants  should  remind  the  friends  of  the  Papa- 
cy, that  the  grand  and  prevailing  persecutions  of  France,  in 
all  ages,  were  carried  on  by  the  active  and  urgent  support  of 


OF    FRANCE.  48 

the  authorities,  civil  and  ecclesiastical — by  the  Church  and 
the  State ;  and  that  even  the  more  mingled  proceedings  of  a 
popular  faction  in  1815,  were  the  fruit  of  the  unhappy  preju- 
dices which  their  anti-Proteslant  and  anti-Evangelical  policy 
had  so  long  maintained  and  cherished,  and  were  also  en- 
couraged by  influential  men — the  clergy  and  others.  It  may 
be  added,  that  the  violent  proceedings  in  the  south  of  France 
in  1815-16,  were  soon  brought  to  a  close.  'I'o  this,  the 
public  meetings  in  this  country,  and  the  discussions  in  the 
British  Parliament,  largely  contributed.  Since  then,  down 
to  the  present  day,  there  has  been  no  persecution,  properly 
so  called,  with  the  exception  of  the  recent  jealousy  and  op- 
position which  have  been  stirred  up  in  various  influential 
quarters  against  revived  evangelical  religion.  The  accession 
of  the  present  King  of  the  French,  who  is  much  more  free 
from  Jesuit  influence  than  his  predecessor,  was  hailed  by  the 
Protestants  with  the  warmest  joy.  But  already  there  are 
indications  that  the  Popish  party  may  be  too  strong  for  him; 
and  should  they  ever  be  permitted  again  to  persecute,  it  will 
not  be  as  in  1815,  from  mere  religious  prejudices,  but  from 
deadly  hatred  to  true  evangelical  religion,  which  has  been 
awakened  in  the  meantime,  and  which  is  the  grand,  as  it  is 
the  only,  befitting  object  of  the  hostility  and  persecution  of 
the  fallen  and  unrenewed  mind  of  man. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  notice  the  numbers  of  the  present 
Protestant  Church  of  France,  and  the  public  provision  which 
is  made  for  its  ministers.  In  1637,  or  about  fifty  years  be- 
fore the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  the  Protestants 
numbered  six  hundred  and  forty-one  ministers  to  eight  hun- 
dred and  six  churches.  They  had  grown  considerably  during 
the  forty  previous  years.  In  1815,  after  the  Revocation, 
and  the  Revolution,  and  the  overthrow  of  Bonaparte,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Cobbin,  in  his  work,  entitled  "The  French 
Preacher,"  the  whole  number  of  churches  was  only  two 
hundred  and  thirty ;  the  whole  number  of  ministers  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty.  This  shows  how  terribly  the  Church  had 
sufl^ered  under  the  successive  persecutions  of  Popery  and 
Infidelity,  the  more  especially,  if  it  be  remembered  that,  in 
the  meantime,  the  general  population  of  the  country  had 
greatly  increased.  In  1829,  M.  Soulier  ascertained  that  the 
whole  number  of  pastors  was  three  hundred  and  five,  the 
churches  four  hundred"  and  thirty-eight,  the  elementary 
schools  three  hundred  and  ninety-two.  This  indicates  a 
considerable  increase  under  the  protection  and  encourage- 

31 


482 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


ment  of  the  law.  Three  years  ago,  an  intelligent  American 
minister,  resident  on  the  Continent,  stated  the  present  French 
pastors  at  three  hundred  and  fifty.  And  there  is  little  ques- 
tion they  are  advancing  in  numbers.  In  1837,  an  official 
document  presented  to  the  Chambers,  stated  them  at  three 
hundred  and  sixty-six;  they  are  now  three  hundred  and 
ninety-seven,  or  nearly  four  hundred.  Persons  well  acquaint- 
ed with  the  Protestants  of  France  have  remarked,  that  the 
number  of  ministers  and  churches  does  not  give  a  correct 
idea  of  the  Protestant  population.  The  means  of  religious 
instruction  are  very  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the  people. 
Hence  it  was  stated  a  few  years  ago,  that  many  of  them  are 
obliged  to  meet  for  public  worship  in  out-houses,  barns,  or 
in  the  open  air;  and  in  many  places  one  minister  has  the 
charge  of  several  distant  churches,  so  that  instruction  can  be 
supplied  only  at  lengthened  intervals.  According  to  the 
budget  of  1837,  the  expenses  of  Protestant  worship  in  France 
amounted  to  eight  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  francs.  In 
1825  they  were  only  five  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand; 
thus  showing  the  progress  of  the  Protestant  feeling  and  cause. 
Indeed,  there  was  recently  an  increased  grant  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  thousand  francs  for  additional  Protestant  pas- 
tors and  places  of  worship.  Under  this  head,  the  Lutherans, 
two  hundred  and  thirty-two  in  number,  are  included  as  well 
as  the  Reformed  ;  but  the  same  point  is  proved,  for  both  par- 
ties are  professedly  Protestant,  and  the  latter  is  much  the 
larger  body.  It  may  be  stated  generally,  that,  since  1825, 
the  public  provision  for  Protestant  worship  has  been  doubled^ 
which  indicates  many  additional  churches  and  ministers. 
Still  the  Protestants  are,  proportionally,  considerably  behind 
the  Roman  Catholics,  but  their  share  of  the  grant  is  annually 
enlarged.  At  least  there  seems  no  ground  of  complaint  on 
this  score. 

With  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  French  Protestant 
pastors — they  are  generally  much  scattered — are  able  to 
maintain  little  intercourse  with  each  other — are  poor  in  their 
outward  circumstances.  Though  not  unacquainted  with  gen- 
eral literature,  yet,  from  the  adverse  fortunes  through  which 
they  have  passed  as  a  Church,  and  particularly  the  want  of 
books,  they  have  no  opportunity  of  becoming  deeply  versed 
in  theology.  Hence  they  do  not  occupy  the  same  high  place 
in  the  Christian  ministry  which  was  held  by  their  illustrious 
ancestors.  It  has  been  noticed,  that  there  is  a  marked  su- 
periority in  the  character  and  attainments  of  those  who  have 


OF     FRANCE.  483 

been  thrown  into  intercourse  with  the  pious  British  resident 
on  the  Continent.  The  general  condition  of  the  Protestant 
pastors  is  thus  described,  in  1825,  by  an  intelligent  writer  in 
the  "  Christian  Observer:" — 

"  The  number  of  pastors  is  at  present  insufficient  to  pro- 
vide for  the  vacant  charges;  and  many  districts  have  no  pas- 
tor, nor  any  spiritual  instructor  whatever.  Whence  does 
this  deficiency  of  ministers  arise?  One  cause  is,  that  in 
France  the  Protestant  clergy  are  very  poorly  paid,  and  those 
persons  who  look  to  the  Church  for  support  can  scarcely  ob- 
tain it.  The  allowance  made  to  each  minister  by  the  Gov- 
ernment does  not  exceed  forty,  sixty,  or  eighty  pounds  a 
year,  and  they  derive  very  little  in  general  from  voluntary 
contributions  to  supply  the  scanty  allowance  of  the  State. 
This  condition  of  things  not  only  produces  a  want  of  minis- 
ters, but  it  tends  to  prevent  men  of  superior  talents  and  learn- 
ing from  engaging  in  the  important  office  of  the  ministry, 
which  is  thus  apt  to  be  occupied  by  persons  but  ill  fitted,  not 
only  to  maintain  with  advantage  the  interests  of  religion 
against  the  enemies  of  the  faith,  but  to  enlarge  the  numbers 
of  enlightened  and  pious  attendants  at  their  place  of  worship. 
It  is  true  that  there  are  many  distinguished  ministers  in  the 
French  Church,  but  they  stand  in  need  of  help;  they  are  in 
general  encumbered  with  a  weight  of  occupation;  and  al- 
though the  influence  of  their  character  is  powerfully  felt  in 
their  own  circle,  their  exertions  can  reach  but  a  little  way." 

As  to  their  religious  character,  more  particularly  their 
soundness  or  unsoundness  in  the  faith,  it  cannot  be  denied, 
and  it  should  not  be  concealed,  that  the  larger  portion  of  them, 
to  say  the  least,  are  still  very  defective  in  their  knowledge  of 
the  Gospel — many  grievously  ignorant  and  hostile,  Arminian, 
Socinian,  Neological,  in  different  stages  and  degrees.  Till 
very  recently,  all  their  colleges  or  theological  seminaries, 
both  in  France  and  Switzerland,  might,  in  point  of  decided 
influence,  be  pronounced  Socinian.  Faithful  ministers  are, 
in  various  quarters,  reproached  and  persecuted  by  their  own 
brethren.  Within  these  few  years,  the  Rev.  M.  Monod,  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  ministers  of  the  Protestant  Church, 
was  deposed  from  his  charge  through  the  influence  of  his 
colleagues,  for  no  other  crime  save  the  faithful  preaching  of 
the  Cross.  In  1833,  the  same  party  in  the  Church  published 
a  book,  entitled  "  Letters  on  Methodism,"  which,  we  are 
informed,  consist  of  a  collection  of  disgraceful  calumnies, 
aimed  not  only  against  pious  men,  but  against  the  most  sacred 


484  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  The  spirit  of  the  party  may  be 
gathered  from  the  facts,  that  they  are  anxious  to  be  released 
from  the  signing  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  contend 
that  the  "  Bible  Society"  should  confine  its  labours  to  the 
Protestant  population,  and  not  meddle  with  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholics. Of  course,  they  support  the  circulation  of  the 
Apocrypha.  Poor  examples  are  they  of  contribution  for  re- 
ligious objects.  Ten  years  ago,  the  whole  sum  raised  for 
such  purposes  in  France,  was  only  forty  thousand  francs. 

But  even  among  them  there  is  progress.     An  intelligent 
writer,  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  French  Protestant  Church, 
and  a  correspondent  of  a  religious  paper  in  the  United  States, 
to  whom  I  have  already  referred,  and  to  whom  I  shall  have 
occasion  repeatedly  to  refer,  says,* — "  It  may  be  added,  and 
I  say  it  with  joy,  that  some  of  the  latitudinarian  or  univer- 
salist  pastors  are  inclining  more  and  more  to  the  true  and 
pure  evangelical  doctrines,  and  that  several  among  them  give 
the  hope  of  a  speedy  and  thorough  conversion."    While  even 
the  erroneous  and  hostile  are  improving,  the  decidedly  evan- 
gelical clergy  were  lately  estimated  at  nearly  two  hundred, 
without  reckoning  the  Lutherans.     Some  expect  that  they 
will  soon  have  a  majority.     Twenty  years  ago,  we  have 
seen,  they  could  scarcely  berated  higher  than  ten;  and  what 
is  very  cheering,  they  are  yearly  increasing  in  zeal  as  well 
as  in  numbers.  In  Switzerland  there  are  now  more  than  two 
hundred  faithful  ministers  of  the  truth:  twenty-five  years  ago 
they  were  reckoned  by  so  small  a  number  as  five.   In  Paris, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Baird  stated,  a  few  years  since,  that  the  Gos- 
pel is  faithfully  preached  in  six  places  of  worship  in  French, 
and  in  nearly  as  many  places  in  Enghsh.     And  what  is  a 
great  matter,  M.  Monod,  who  was  deposed  for  his  faithful- 
ness by  his  brethren,  was  lately  installed  Professor  of  Morals 
and  Eloquence  at  Montauban.     The  event  is  a  very  impor- 
tant one,  gratifying  to  all  the  Christians  of  France,  who  re- 
gard the  appointment  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  of  bless- 
ing to  the  Protestant  Church.     Some  idea  of  its  importance 
may  be  formed  when  it  is  remembered  that,  after  his  depo- 
sition, M.  Monod  was  successful  in  collecting  at  Lyons  a 
congregation  of  four  hundred— one-half  of  them   Roman 
Catholics — and  formed  them  into  a  Christian  Church,  in- 
creasing at  the  rate  of  forty  to  fifty  a  year;  established  a 
week-day  school,  attended  by  one  hundred  Roman  Catholics 
of  all  ages;  held  public  discussions  with  accomplished  priests 

*  New  York  Observer,  May,  1834. 


OF    FRANCE.  485 

of  the  Church  of  Rome,  till  the  archbishop  of  the  district 
vainly  attempted  to  prohibit  his  flock  from  listening  to  the 
discussions.  Moreover,  M.  Monod  put  an  agency  of  young 
men  as  tract  distributors,  &c.  &;c.,  into  operation,  which  was 
felt  so  powerfully,  that  the  priests  of  Lyons  stuck  up  large 
placards,  warning  their  people  against  the  "  pernicious  little 
books,  which  would  deprive  the  holy  virgin  of  the  honour 
which  is  her  due." 

While  faithful  professors  are  thus  finding  their  way  into 
seats  of  influence,  a  new  and  strictly  evangelical  college  has 
been  lately  erected  at  Geneva,  presided  over  by  five  eminent 
Christians,  and  preparing  an  increasing  number  of  young 
men  for  the  holy  ministry — from  thirty  to  forty.  D'Aubigne, 
the  accomplished  biographer  of  Luther,  is  one  of  the  Pro- 
fessors.    Then  it  is  to  be  considered  that  the  religious  press 
of  France  is  very  much  in  the  hands  of  the  faithful  part  of 
the  Reformed  Church.     It  is  remarked  that  the  Neological 
party  publish  almost  nothing,  and  that  the  religious  journals, 
books,  and  sermons,  proceed  from  the  pens  of  orthodox  pas- 
tors.    "  The  Sower,"  "  The  Journal  of  Missions,"   "  The 
Friend  of  Youth,"  "  The  Archives    of  Christianity,"  are 
all  organs  of  Christian  truth.     The  chief  branch  of  Chris- 
tian literature,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  has  been  sermon 
writing;  and  the  most  popular  and  wide-spread  discourses 
have  been  those  of  evangelical  authors,  such  as  Cellerier, 
Vinet,  Grand  Pierre,  SchoU,  and  Bonnet — a  mighty  contrast, 
indeed,  to  the  prevailing  sermons  of  the  beginning  of  the 
century.     These  are  powerful  instruments  to  be  wielded  by 
a  small  party,  and  indicate  the  presence,  while  they  provide 
for  the  extension,  of  a  salutary  influence.     To  turn  to  other 
evidences,  we  find  from  the  table  of  M.  Soulier,  that  in  18*29, 
the  Reformed  Church  could  point  to  four  hundred  and  fifty- 
one  Bible  associations,   one  hundred  and  twenty -four  Mis- 
sionary societies,  seventy-nine  Sabbath  schools,  and  fifty- 
nine  depots  for  religious  tracts.     Many  of  these  may  be  so 
small  and  inefficient  as  to  be  only  nominal,  but,  taken  as  a 
whole,  they  proclaim  the  existence  of  spiritual  life.     And  it 
is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  Evangelical,  though  a  much 
smaller  part,  receive  three  or  four  times  as  much  in  gifts  and 
subscriptions  for  religious  objects  as   the   Neological.     If 
some  Bible  associations  be  asleep,  others  are  awake.     To 
that  of  Paris,  not  less  than  from  forty  to  fifty  pastors  of  the 
French  Protestant  Church,  some  of  them  from  a  distance  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred  leagues,  assembled  on 


486 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


a  recent  anniversary.  Never  was  there  a  wider  circulation 
of  the  Word  of  God  in  France  than  during  late  years. 
Apart  from  other  societies,  the  Evangelical  associations  of 
Paris  and  Geneva  alone  sell,  not  merely  distribute,  twelve 
thousand  copies  annually. 

With  regard,  again,  to  missionary  labour,  not  only  is  the 
spirit  of  it  greatly  on  the  increase,  but  recently  several  men 
have  actually  gone  forth  from  the  shores  of  France  to  the 
heathen  world.  Nine  have  already  been  settled  as  missiona- 
ries in  the  north-east  of  the  Cape  at  four  stations,  and  not 
long  ago  six  or  eight  were  in  a  course  of  study  at  Paris  for 
the  same  work.  When  there  is  so  loud  a  call  for  their  ex- 
ertions at  home,  the  self-denied  devotement  to  the  foreign 
field  is  the  more  remarkable,  and  argues  the  presence  of  no 
common  zeal.  I  might  appeal  to  various  other  proofs  of  the 
renovating  spirit  of  true  religion,  but  it  is  unnecessary.  Per- 
haps the  most  striking  evidence  is  to  be  found  in  the  Popish 
persecution  which,  in  many  quarters,  is  kindling  anew  with 
the  revival  of  the  faithful  preaching  of  the  Cross.  In  some 
quarters  the  revival,  through  the  labours  of  the  Protestant 
Church,  and  the  different  religious  societies  which  are  direct- 
ed to  the  spiritual  good  of  the  Continent,  is  very  marked. 
We  have  noticed  the  case  of  M.  Monod  at  Lyons.  At  Stras- 
burg,  the  capital  of  Alsace,  a  pious  evangelist,  a  few  years 
ago,  collected  a  congregation  of  more  than  four  hundred  per- 
sons, and  his  place  of  worship  proving  too  small,  the  extra- 
ordinary sum,  in  France,  of  from  thirty  to  forty  thousand 
francs  was  raised  by  his  people  to  build  a  larger;  and  all  this 
in  a  city  lately  notorious  for  the  deplorable  errors  of  Neology. 
The  correspondent  of  the  "  New  York  Observer,"  states, 
that  lately  there  was  a  remarkable  revival  of  religion  at  Sion- 
ville,  near  Cherburg.  The  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  populous  village,  with  the  mayor  at  their  head,  avowed 
their  abandonment  of  Popery,  and  invited  the  Protestant 
pastor  of  Cherburg  to  preach  to  them  the  Word  of  God. 
This  invitation  he  has  accepted,  and  statedly  performs  the 
duty.  The  Roman  Catholic  journals  denounced  with  ex- 
treme violence  the  defection  of  three  quarters  of  a  large  com- 
mune, and  in  their  anger  said  that  it  was  in  consequence  of 
the  marriage  of  the  Prince  Royal  to  a  Protestant  woman. 
The  writer  adds:  "The  latest  information  I  have  received 
respecting  the  evangelization  of  the  department  of  Saone  and 
Loire  is  very  satisfactory.  Chapels  have  been  built  at  Cha- 
lons, at  Branges,  at  Sorney,  &c.;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark, 


OF    FRANCE.  487 

that  the  Government  of  the  Canton  of  Berne,  in  Switzerland, 
has  voted  a  donation  of  six  hundred  franees  for  this  object. 
The  rehgious  movement  has  assumed  a  most  serious  and  set- 
tled character  in  the  department  of  Saone  and  Loire."  M. 
D'Aubigne  of  Geneva,  in  a  recent  communication,  relates 
the  following  case.  It  is  one  of  affecting  interest;  and  the 
annals  of  the  "  Evangelical  Society  of  Paris  and  Geneva" 
can  appeal  to  many  of  the  same  character: — "A  man  named 
Potier,  a  bigoted  Roman  Catholic,  had  been  exceedingly 
anxious,  from  his  early  youth,  to  secure  the  salvation  of  his 
soul.  To  gain  this  all-important  end,  he  adopted  for  his 
patron  Saint  John  the  Baptist,  and  began  to  imitate  his  aus- 
terities. Like  him,  he  retired  into  solitude,  and  lived  upon 
wild  herbs  and  water;  but,  as  you  will  easily  imagine,  these 
austerities  brought  no  comfort  to  his  weary  spirit.  As  soon 
as  he  came  of  age,  and  got  possession  of  his  property,  he  left 
the  desert,  and  was  determined  to  try  a  new  method  of  sav- 
ing his  soul:  he  resolved  to  give  his  goods  to  feed  the  poor. 
He  divided  his  property  into  nine  parts,  and,  reserving  but 
one-ninth  for  himself,  he  distributed  the  rest  among  some 
poor  families.  After  this  he  inquired  of  his  own  soul  whether 
it  had  yet  found  peace  by  these  acts  of  self  denial,  and  the 
answer  was,  that  there  was  yet  no  peace  within.  He  then 
tried  another  mode  of  finding  the  pearl  of  salvation :  he  re- 
solved to  do  something  for  the  Church.  It  happened  that 
there  was  a  project  in  the  village  where  he  lived,  of  erecting 
a  new  church,  but  the  plan  was  on  the  point  of  being  aban- 
doned on  account  of  the  expense.  Potier  advanced  imme- 
diately four  hundred  francs,  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
workmen,  went  with  them  to  the  quarries,  encouraged  ihem 
by  his  example,  and  from  his  knowledge  of  the  country, 
which  he  gained  during  his  imitation  of  John  the  Baptist,  he 
knew  where  to  find  plenty  of  stone.  In  a  little  time  he  got 
together  a  considerable  quantity,  which  he  carried  away  with 
his  own  hands;  but  neither  did  this  religious  occupation 
bring  peace  to  his  troubled  spirit.  At  length,  in  1834,  a 
Colporteur  offered  to  give  him  a  Bible,  which  he  accepted: 
he  read  it,  was  made  to  understand  it,  and  believed.  Then 
all  that  he  had  before  considered  his  righteousness,  he  re- 
nounced as  a  thing  of  no  price ;  and  now  he  is  living  in  peace 
with  his  Lord,  and  is  a  zealous  member  of  one  of  tlie  churches 
connected  with  our  Society."  A  late  report  of  the  '*  Euro- 
pean Missionary  Society"  states  that,  at  one  town  in  the 
south  of  France,  in  the  course  of  last  winter,  no  less  than 


488 


PROTESTANT    CHUKCH 


three  hundred  persons  presented  themselves  as  converts  from 
Popery,  anxious  to  be  admitted  into  communion  with  their 
Protestant  brethren. 

The  "  Christian  Observer"  of  April  1833,  speaking  of  the 
symptoms  of  revival  in  another  quarter  at  that  time,  says, 
*'  On  every  side  are  chapels  and  churches  dedicated  to  Papal 
saints;  and  the  true  worship  of  God  had  been  superseded 
by  the  grossest  idolatry.  Lately,  however,  some  Bibles 
have  penetrated  the  place,  and  the  perusal  of  them  has  been 
conspicuously  attended  by  the  blessing  of  God.  M.  Renous, 
a  pious  Protestant  minister,  hearing  that  some  of  the  people 
were  assiduously  studying  the  Word  of  God,  and  were  even 
preparing  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Popery,  repaired  to  the 
place,  and  has  been  labouring  diligently  among  them  in 
preaching  the  doctrines  of  salvation.  The  attendance  at  his 
discourses  has  already  increased  from  twenty  to  two  hundred ; 
thirty  heads  of  families  have  sent  in  a  declaration  to  the 
mayor,  that  they  are  determined  to  live  and  die  Protestants, 
and  have  demanded  the  protection  of  the  laws  as  a  religious 
body.  M.  Renous  describes  his  discourses  as  being  inter- 
rupted with  the  frequent  exclamations  of  his  astonished  and 
delighted  auditors ;  contrasting  the  blessedness  of  Christian 
truth,  and  the  offer  of  free  pardon  through  the  blood  of  the 
Saviour,  with  the  follies  and  penances  to  which  they  had 
been  accustomed." 

AVhatever  difficulties  the  Evangelical  Societies  of  Paris 
and  Geneva  may,  in  common  with  all  similar  institutions, 
have  to  struggle  with,  the  cause  of  home  evangelization  is 
growing  in  interest  and  importance.  In  three  months  the  Paris 
committee  have  received  two  hundred  and  fifty  applications 
from  different  quarters,  for  spiritual  labourers.  The  funds 
of  the  religious  institutions  of  Protestant  France  have  tripled 
in  two  years,  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  two  societies  toge- 
ther employ  two  hundred  Christian  labourers  of  one  kind  or 
another — making,  with  the  faithful  pastors  of  the  Church,  a 
litde  band  of  four  hundred  soldiers  of  the  Cross;  surely  the 
indication  of  a  decided  revival. 

Such  a  state  of  things  as  this — and  what  has  been  record- 
ed is  only  a  specimen — could  not  be  allowed  to  go  on  with- 
out opposition.  There  would  be  a  strong  presumption  that 
the  work  was  not  sound,  if  Infidelity  and  Popery  could 
look  tamely  on  at  its  progress.  Accordingly,  persecution,  so 
far  as  the  law  will  allow,  is  beginning  to  appear  anew.  Many 
men  imagined  that  the  Revolution  of  1830  was  to  seal  for 


OF    FRANCE.  489 

ever  the  triumph  of  religious  freedom,  and  that  after  the  ar- 
ticle in  the  charter,  declaring  the  Roman  Catholic  to  be  the 
religion  of  the  State,  had  been  abolished,  there  could  be  no 
possible  pretext  for  oppressing  evangelical  communions ;  but 
the  truth  is,  that  persecution  has  a  far  deeper  foundation  than 
the  accidental  circumstance  of  M^hether  a  particular  Church 
is  or  is  not  recognized  by  the  State.  It  is  founded  in  the 
depravity  of  human  nature — in  the  hatred  of  Popery  and  In- 
fidelity to  the  holy  truth  of  God.  Persecution  will  show 
itself  whether  Churches  be  established  or  not.  Witness  the 
persecutions  of  the  truth  by  the  unestablished  Popish  Church 
of  Ireland  at  this  moment:  so  in  France.  Two  years  ago  a 
faithful  minister  relying  on  that  article  of  the  constitutional 
charter,  by  which  it  is  declared  that  all  Frenchmen  may  pro- 
fess their  religion  with  equal  freedom,  opened  a  chapel  at 
Metz,  in  Lorraine.  For  this  he  was  prosecuted  by  the 
mayor;  and  after  an  appeal  to  the  highest  court — that  of 
Cassation — it  was  found  that  the  previous  leave  of  the  mu- 
nicipal authorities  is  indispensable  to  the  opening  of  a  place 
of  worship.  And  what  was  the  ground  of  objection  in  this 
case?  It  does  not  seem  that  the  mayor  had  any  himself — 
he  may  even  have  been  friendly  to  the  chapel — but  the 
preacher  had  offended  the  rich  Jews  by  some  publications 
on  the  subject  of  Judaism,  and  it  was  they  who  were  the 
persecutors — men  who  but  lately  had  been  themselves  the  vic- 
tims of  oppression  !  Had  they  not  succeeded  in  this  legal 
objection,  it  is  certain  that  a  thousand  other  modes  of  annoy- 
ance and  oppression  would  have  been  employed.  The 
preacher  was  fined.  Various  other  and  more  serious  cases 
have  occurred  since — so  much  so,  that  the  writer  in  the 
"  New  York  Observer"  remarks — "  The  French  Cabinet 
shows  hostile  feelings  against  religious  sects,  and  seems  dis- 
posed to  tread  in  the  steps  of  the  Ministers  of  Charles  X." 
*  *  *  *  a  Facts  evince  that  the  French  Government  have 
adopted  a  systematic  plan  of  judicial  prosecutions  against  the 
liberty  of  worship."  Any  one  who  is  living  in  such  personal 
danger  as  the  present  monarch,  would  need  a  more  enlight- 
ened faith  than  it  is  to  be  feared  Louis  Philip  possesses  lo 
preserve  him  from  the  temptation  of  leaning  to  the  priests 
who  surround  him.  But  these  incipient  persecutions  show 
that  divine  truth  is  making  progress.  It  would  not  be  worth 
while  to  attempt  forcibly  to  restrain  what  was  not  worth 
fighting  with,  or  what  threatened  no  danger. 

The  following  are  extracts  from  an  interesting  letter  which 


490  PEOTESTANT    CHURCH 

I  have  received  from  the  Rev.  Fr.  Marzials,  the  Protestant 
minister  of  Lille  in  the  north  of  France.  They  shortly  de- 
scribe the  condition  of  the  Reformed  Church  at  the  present 
moment:  "  Most  likely  you  are  aware  that  the  French  Go- 
vernment has  communicated  lately  to  our  high  consistories  a 
plan  of  constitution  for  our  churches.  The  confessed  motive 
of  it  is  to  get  us  out  of  the  anarchy  in  which  we  are  as  a 
body;  and  the  real  motive  is,  as  much  as  possible  to  prevent 
true  Christian  principles  to  exercise  any  influence  over  the 
nation.  This  is  the  conviction  of  our  pious  clergymen ;  and 
I  do  not  see  how  any  other  view  can  be  entertained  on  the 
matter.  Who  is  the  real  author  of  this  plan  we  do  not  know ; 
we  only  guess  that  the  Rationalist  party  of  our  Church  has 
much  to  do  with  its  origin,  and  that  the  Popish  influence  has 
found  its  way  to  it.  This  plan  has  three  abominable  leading 
principles:  1st,  It  makes  our  Church,  in  every  respect,  the 
humble  servant  of  the  Government;  2d,  It  prevents  our 
Church  from  ever  becoming  a  Missionary  Society  for  France ; 
and,  3d,  It  establishes  a  few  rules  of  interior  discipline, 
which  are  really  nothing  more  but  an  insult  to  the  spirit  and 
sense  of  our  Protestants."     *     *     * 

"  A  nobleman  of  great  repute,  as  a  statesman,  a  faithful 
citizen,  and  a  Christian — the  Comte  de  Gasparin — has  writ- 
ten a  pamphlet  in  answer  to  the  letter  of  M.  Coquerel,  in 
which  he  plainly  says,  as  his  most  decided  conviction  (and 
he  is  in  a  position  to  know  the  true  state  of  things,)  that  this 
plan  has  originated  in  the  desire  to  shut,  in  the  narrowest 
bounds  possible,  our  Church  and  its  influence.  No  wonder 
at  this :  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  blowing  upon  the  dry  bones; 
and  the  Rationalist  party,  and  the  Popish  party,  feel  their 
cause  to  be  in  such  a  peril  by  this  slow  but  sure  revival,  that 
they  are  decided  to  use  all  means  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  Nay, 
but  the  Lord  reigneth — there  is  our  rock,  our  foundation. 
From  this  movement  I  cannot  but  infer  two  or  three  reflec- 
tions : — 

"  1st.  It  shows  that  the  Lord  is  amongst  us  for  good. 
Nobody,  I  think,  can  deny  this.  If  I  was  going  to  choose 
a  part  of  France  as  a  proof  of  this,  I  would  tell  you  to  look 
at  this  departement — Le  Nord.  By  the  blessing  of  God 
upon  the  Bibles  distributed,  the  tracts  sold,  the  preaching  of 
his  servants,  nearly  ten  new  churches  have  been  formed, 
mosdy  in  towns  and  villages  where,  ten  years  ago,  there  was 
not  to  be  found  one  Protestant.  I  remember  well,  dear  Sir, 
the  time  1  had  only  sixteen  hearers  in  my  Church;  and  now 


OF    FEANCE.  491 

by  the  grace  of  God,  the  church  is  too  small — so  much  so, 
that  the  Government  has  granted  us  sufficient  money  to  build 
three  galleries  in  it,  which  will  be  begun  in  a  few  days. 
Perhaps  I  am  below  the  truth  when  I  say  that  eighty  Catho- 
lics in  this  town  have  embraced  our  views,  and  many  of 
them,  I  trust,  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  What  1  say  of  this 
departement  I  could  say  of  many  other  parts  of  France. 

*'  2d.  That  the  Catholic  priests  are  annoyed  at  this  revival. 
Last  year  the  bishops  of  this  Church  published  in  their 
mandements  strong  and  bold  anathemas  against  our  Bibles, 
our  colporteurs,  and  our  tracts ;  and  two  of  them  this  year 
have  gone  further ;  their  mandements  are  as  violent  as  pos- 
sible ;  this  is  specially  the  case  with  the  bishop  of  Arras. 
Their  newspapers  bear  also  large  proofs  of  their  dissaUsfac- 
tion.  No  doubt,  therefore,  that  they  exert  all  their  power 
and  influence  with  the  Government  to  have  our  liberties  cur- 
tailed as  much  as  possible. 

*'  3d.  All  this  agitation  about  the  plan  of  the  Government 
shows,  according  to  my  humble  views,  that  our  Protestant 
people  themselves  are  not  satisfied  with  our  present  laws  as 
regards  the  Church.  Indeed,  how  could  they  be  satisfied 
with  a  law  which  makes  us  the  mere  slaves  of  temporal  au- 
thorities ?  I  do  not  say  much  on  this  point,  because  every 
body  amongst  us  acknowledges  it.''  It  is  to  be  feared  that 
the  Erastian  interference  of  the  civil  with  the  ecclesiastical, 
is  one  of  the  stages  of  persecution  through  which  the  Church 
of  Christ  is  destined  to  pass  on  the  way  to  the  happy  era, 
when  He  is  to  be  universally  acknowledged  ♦'  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  Lords." 


CONTEMPORANEOUS    HISTORY    OF    THE    CHURCH   OF 
SCOTLAND,  FROM  1792  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIMES— 1840. 

In  the  last  chapter,  on  the  Church  of,  Scotland,  I  directed 
the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  wide-spread  religious  de- 
clension of  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  to 
the  spirit  of  thoughtfulness  and  revival  which  was  awakened 
by  the  shakings  of  the  French  Revolution  in  1792.  Before 
tracing  the  history  of  the  Church  from  that  date  to  the  pre- 
sent, it  may  be  well  to  point  to  a  few  additional  proofs  of  the 
irreligion  which  so  extensively  characterized  the  Church  of 
Christ  in  this  land,   and  the  infidelity  which  marked  the 


492  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

world.  It  is  desirable  to  know  from  what  a  "  horrible  pit 
and  miry  clay"  our  country  has,  in  some  measure,  been  de- 
livered. This  will  naturally  excite  gratitude  to  God,  and 
lead  the  Church,  at  the  present  day,  to  humble  and  abase 
herself  before  Him  for  her  past  unfaithfulness.  Thus,  too, 
will  she  be  armed  with  the  greater  vigilance  and  resolution 
against  the  revival  of  that  ecclesiastical  policy  which  would 
restore  days  of  former  darkness  and  degeneracy. 

The  eighteenth  century  had  its  ample  share  of  the  mental 
excitement  which  war  is  supposed  to  carry  along  with  it. 
In  the  first  ninety  years  of  the  century,  before  the  wars  rising 
out  of  the  French  Revolution  had  begun,  there  were  not 
less  than  thirty-five  years  of  warfare,  which,  not  to  speak  of 
the  loss  of  life,  cost  the  nation  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  millions  of  money — almost  one-half  the  present  national 
debt:  I  allude  to  the  wars  of  the  Spanish  succession  in  1702 
— the  war  of  Spain  in  1739 — the  seven  years'  war  in  1756 — 
and  the  war  of  American  independence  in  1775:  but  all  this 
loss  of  men  and  treasure  does  not  seem  to  have  been  sancti- 
fied, nor  to  have  stirred  the  national  intellect  and  conscience. 
The  science  and  literature  of  the  period  appears  to  have  par- 
taken of  the  same  character  with  its  religion.  The  Edin- 
burgh Review* — a  very  competent  judge  on  such  ques- 
tions— comparing  the  authors  of  the  eighteenth  with  those 
of  an  earlier  century,  makes  the  following  statement: — 
"  Speaking  generally  of  that  generation  of  authors,  it  may 
be  said,  that,  as  poets,  they  had  no  force  or  greatness  of 
fancy,  no  pathos,  and  no  enthusiasm;  and  as  philosophers, 
no  comprehensiveness,  depth,  or  originality.  They  are  sa- 
gacious, no  doubt,  neat,  clear,  and  reasonable ;  but,  for  the 
most  part,  cold,  timid,  and  superficial."  Such  was  the  cha- 
racter of  the  authorship  when  true  religion  was  rapidly  de- 
clining. How  great  the  contrast  with  the  slate  of  things 
which  obtained  when  the  Church  and  country  were  decided- 
ly evangelical !  The  same  high  critical  authority  says,  in  the 
same  paper — "There  never  was  any  thing  like  the  sixty  or 
seventy  years  which  elapsed  from  the  middle  of  Elizabeth's 
reign  to  the  period  of  the  Restoration.  In  point  of  real  force 
and  originality  of  genius,  neither  the  ajre  of  Pericles,  nor  the 
age  of  Augustus,  nor  the  time  of  Leo  X.,  nor  of  Louis  XIV., 
can  come  at  all  into  comparison ;  for  in  that  short  period  we 
shall  find  the  names  of  all  the  very  great  men  that  this  nation 
has  ever  produced — the  names  of  Shakspeare,  Bacon  Spen- 
*  Vol.  xviii.  p.  275. 


OF    FRANCE.  493 

ser,  Sydney,  Hooker,  Taylor,  Barrow,  Raleigh,  Napier, 
Ilobbes,  and  many  others."  We  might  add  Milton,  Owen, 
Baxter,  Bunyan,  and  the  truly  great  men  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  ministers  and  elders,  who  appeared  during  the 
struggles  of  the  same  period.  It  is  remarkable,  as  showing  a 
connection  between  evangelical  religion  and  the  higher  mani- 
festations of  mind,  that  no  persons  of  national  greatness  ap- 
peared from  the  Restoration  to  the  Revolution — the  days  of 
irreligion,  vice,  and  persecution — and  that  in  one  department 
at  least  of  literature  in  the  eighteenth  century — that  of  poetry 
— the  first  to  break  loose  from  the  tame  formalism  of  the 
age  was  the  evangelical  Cowper — a  poet  whose  misery  has 
sometimes  been  charged  upon  his  religion,  but  who  owed 
the  only  happiness  which  he  almost  ever  possessed  to  the 
Gospel  of  free  grace. 

To  return,  however:  the  last  century,  with  the  exception, 
in  Scotland,  of  the  first  twenty  years,  was  an  age  of  sad  re- 
ligious declension.  In  spite  of  the  favourable  impulse  which 
was  given  to  the  country  by  the  devoted  labours  of  Wesley 
and  Whitefield — labours  which  were  called  forth  by  the 
deep  decline  into  which  all  religious  parties  in  England  had 
sunk — and  but  for  which  matters  would  have  been  worse — 
the  lethargy  was  still  appalling.  Twenty  years  after  their 
ministrations  had  been  blessed  to  the  awakening  of  thou- 
sands (1772,)  it  could  be  said,  in  connection  with  the  peti- 
tion to  Parliament  for  the  abrogation  of  the  signing  of  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles — the  late  eminent  Robert  Hall  of  Bris- 
tol is  my  authority — "There  was  not  one  member  who  ex- 
pressed his  belief  in  the  Articles;  and  Mr.  Hans  Stanley 
opposed  the  bringing  up  of  the  petition,  as  tending  to  disturb 
the  peace  of  the  country.  Of  the  state  of  the  public  mind  in 
the  metropolis,  we  have  a  striking  picture  in  a  letter  from 
John  Lee,  afterwards  Solicitor-General: — 'It  will  surprise 
you  who  live  in  the  country,'  says  he,  '  and  consequently 
have  not  been  informed  of  the  discoveries  of  the  metropolis, 
that  the  Christian  religion  is  not  thought  to  be  an  object 
worthy  of  the  least  regard !  and  that  it  not  only  is  the  most 
prudent,  but  the  most  virtuous  and  benevolent  thing  in  the 
world,  to  divert  men's  minds  from  such  frivolous  subjects 
with  all  the  dexterity  that  can  be.  This  is  no  exaggeration,^ 
I  assure  you;  on  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  be  the  opinion  of 
nine-tenths  of  both  Bouses  of  Parliament.'  The  fact  is, 
that  through  the  secularity  and  irreligion  of  the  clergy,  evan- 
gelical truth  was  nearly  effaced  from  the  minds  of  the  mem- 


494 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


bers  of  the  Establishment  in  the  higher  ranks;  that  an  indo- 
lent acquiescence  in  established  formularies  had  succeeded 
to  the  ardour  with  which  the  great  principles  of  religion 
were  embraced  at  the  Reformation,  ^uch  was  the  state  of 
the  public  mind,  that  in  a  contest  between  orthodoxy  and 
heresy,  the  former  proved  triumphant,  merely  because  it 
was  already  established,  and  had  the  plea  of  antiquity  and 
prescription  in  its  favour." 

Mr.  Colquhoun  of  Killermont,  in  a  beautiful  paper  on 
*'  The  moral  character  of  Britain  the  cause  of  its  political 
eminence,"  surveying  the  adverse  influence  of  the  irreligion 
of  the  last  century  on  public  liberty,  says — "  The  Crown 
laid  aside  the  instruments  of  force,  but  found  more  effectual 
weapons  in  the  use  of  corruption.  The  practice  of  bribery 
was  regularly  adopted,  and  largesses  seduced  the  representa- 
tive from  the  path  of  his  duty.  Few  withstood  the  tempta- 
tion. VValpole,  who  practised  it,  declared  that  every  one 
had  his  price.  The  House  of  Commons  was  thus  filled  with 
a  hireling  body,  two-thirds  of  whom  were  the  official  ser- 
vants, one-third  the  secret  pensioners  of  the  Crown.  All 
check  was  thus  removed  from  the  prerogative,  which  entered 
upon  a  course  of  policy  eccentric  and  desultory,  but  always 
injurious.  Debts  were  contracted,  national  burdens  com- 
menced, embarrassment  at  home,  dishonour  abroad.  The 
corruption  of  Walpole  was  succeeded  by  the  vacillation  of 
the  Pelhams — this  by  the  imbecillity  of  Lord  Bute,  and  that 
by  the  errors  of  Lord  North,  which  cost  us  the  richest  ap- 
pendage of  England.  So  that,  after  the  struggles  of  the 
seventeenth  century — after  all  the  labour,  and  toil,  and  blood 
of  these  critical  times — having,  with  great  pains,  acquired  a 
good  government — the  nation  seemed  to  have  wilfully  thrown 
it  aside,  and,  stooping  again  to  degradation,  bending  under  a 
new  yoke,  more  vexatious,  though  less  palpable,  she  seemed 
to  be  hastening  with  rapid  steps  into  the  road  which  other 
nations  had  traced,  the  descent  from  a  short-lived  eminence  to 
a  deep  decline.  Her  escape  from  this,  and  the  steps  by  which 
she  accomplished  her  recovery,  forcibly  illustrate  the  con- 
clusion I  am  urging.  It  was  no  politiccd  movement  which 
rescued  Britain  from  ruin.  It  was  the  same  hand  which  had 
led  her  through  her  past  history — which  had  raised  her  in 
weakness,  and  sustained  her  in  conflict,  that  now  came  to  her 
assistance  in  the  lethargy  which  had  fallen  upon  her  in  these 
latter  times."  In  other  words,  it  was  the  revival  of  evan- 
gelical religion. 


OP    FRANCE.  495 

But  coming  later  down — to  the  period  of  the  first  Revolu- 
tion in  1792 — and  directing  our  attention  more  particularly 
to  Scotland,  we  meet  with  several  striking  testimonies.  The 
late  Rev.  Dr.  Jamieson  of  Edinburgh,  well  known  in  the 
literary  world  as  the  author  of  the  "  Scottish  Dictionary," 
and  various  other  works,  wrote  a  pamplet  entitled,  "  An 
Alarm  to  Britain,"  explanatory  of  the  causes  of  the  prevail- 
ing infidelity  of  the  period.  The  following  are  one  or  two 
extracts  which  describe  the  general  irreligion,  particularly  as 
exhibited  in  the  treatment  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  ordinances 
of  divine  worship: 

*'  May  I  not  appeal  to  the  experience,  not  of  individuals 
merely,  but  of  nations:  the  history  of  the  Christian  world 
assures  us,  that  true  religion  and  the  strict  observation  of  the 
Sabbath  have  still  gone  hand  in  hand  ;  and  that  infidelity  and 
the  profanation  of  this  holy  day  have  extended  their  baneful 
influence  together?  In  Britain,  since  the  Reformation,  there 
never  was  an  age  in  which  the  day  of  sacred  rest  was  so 
generally  and  daringly  profaned ;  and  there  never  was  an 
age  in  which  infidelity  made  such  an  alarming  progress. 
This  day  hath  God  given  to  his  people  to  be  a  sign  between 
him  and  them,  a  permanent  evidence  of  his  being 'The 
Lord  that  sanctifieth'  them — a  perpetual  badge  of  distinction 
between  them  and  the  heathen.  When,  therefore,  His  Sab- 
baths are  profaned,  the  badge  is  broken  down;  and  need  we 
wonder  that  '  the  heathen  should  enter  into  his  inheritance?' 

"  The  enemies  of  revelation  in  a  neighbouring  country 
have  testified  their  conviction  of  the  inseparable  connection 
between  Christianity  and  the  observation  of  the  Sabbath. 
As  the  most  eflfectual  plan  for  bringing  men  back  to  what 
they  call  the  religion  of  reason,  they  have  changed  the  day 
of  rest;  with  an  evident  design  that  the  very  day  of  the  Sab- 
bath may  be  gradually  forgotten,  they  have  totally  altered 
their  calendar." — Again:  "  Perhaps  there  never  was  a  time 
when  divine  ordinances  were  more  despised  than  they  now 
are.  Many  avow  that  they  can  learn  as  much  from  a  well- 
wrote  tragedy  as  from  a  sermon.  It  would  seem,  indeed, 
that  they  thought  they  could  learn  more.  Let  the  crowded 
theatres,  and  the  empty  churches  in  our  cities  and  villages, 
tell  whether  this  be  the  truth.  When  a  remnant  of  the  hea- 
thenish worship  is  supposed  to  be,  at  least,  as  useful  to 
mankind  as  the  institutions  of  the  true  God ;  when  the  re- 
presentation of  a  fiction  is  viewed  as  no  less  serviceable  to 
the  best  interests  of  society  than  the  '  setting  forth  of  Jesus 


496 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


Christ  as  crucified  and  slain ;'  need  we  wonder  that  infidelity- 
pours  in  like  a  torrent,  and  threatens  to  sweep  every  thing 
before  it?" 

The  last  quotation  which  I  shall  give  is  from  the  pen  of 
the  Rev.  Professor  Bruce  of  Whitburn,  a  man  of  great 
learning,  the  friend  and  associate  of  Dr.  McCrie.  In  his 
preface  to  Pictel's  works  on  "True  and  False  Religion  Ex- 
amined," which  he  translated,  he  says,  particularly  in  refer- 
ence to  the  relaxed  views  which  were  entertained  of  Popery 
in  this  country  at  the  period  of  the  French  Revolution,  and 
which  indicated  a  great  change  for  the  worse — "  Something 
of  this  kind  (alluding  to  Pictet's  work,)  adapted  to  ordinary 
capacities,  executed  in  a  pious  as  well  as  rational  strain,  is 
rendered  but  too  needful  in  our  land,  from  the  infectious  poison 
and  creeping  gangrene  of  infidelity  that  has  begun  of  late  to 
appear  among  the  lower  classes  of  people,  for  which  the  long 
indifference  and  growing  ignorance  as  to  religious  concerns, 
both  among  high  and  low,  have  been  gradually  preparing  the 
way  and  made  them  an  easy  prey ;  while  a  false  glare  of 
modish  wit  or  learning,  the  abuse  and  false  pretext  of  liberty, 
and  the  parade  of  some  modern  improvements  of  another 
kind,  impose  upon  the  unthinking,  fill  novices  with  pert  con- 
ceit, and  make  them  assume  insolent  but  contemptible  airs 
of  superior  wisdom." 

"  It  were  to  be  wished  that  there  were  less  occasion  for 
still  displaying  to  the  view  of  professed  Christians,  and  of 
Protestants  themselves,  the  wicked  tenets  and  shocking  super- 
stitions of  the  Romish  Church,  and  for  inculcating  the  hein- 
ous guilt  and  danger  of  continuing  to  adhere  to  them,  or  of 
participating  therein.  Perhaps  at  no  time  since  the  retreat  was 
sounded  from  idolatrous  Babel,  was  there  greater  necessity 
for  this  than  at  the  present  juncture,  though  almost  all  des- 
criptions of  men  have  got  nearly  every  apprehension  on  this 
head  banished  from  their  minds.  While  multitudes,  from 
sottish  ignorance,  and  by  the  arts  of  imposition,  ^are  still 
detained  in  the  old  errors  and  grossest  superstitions  of  Rome ; 
many  who  profess  to  have  renounced  them  are  ready  to 
afford  them  patronage  and  the  most  direct  and  effectual  sup- 
port, some  from  political  views  of  particular  interests,  others 
from  absolute  indifference  about  every  species  of  religion. 
What  our  reforming  ancestors  strove  to  abolish,  what  the 
true  Church  of  Christ  hath  been  incessantly  praying  heaven 
to  destroy,  and  what  God  hath  declared  to  be  above  all  other 
things  most  abominable  in  his  sight,  and  against  which  his 


OF    FRANCE. 


497 


indignation  shall  bum  most  fiercely  in  this  world  and  in  the 
lowest  hell,  that  is  what  even  modern  Protestants  scruple 
not  to  maintain  or  labour  to   restore,  by  furious  wars  or 
negociations  of  peace.     The  fall  of  idolatrous  altars — the 
overthrow  of  image-worship — the  abolition  of  monkery — the 
degradation  of  mass-priests — the  destruction  of  the  usurped 
jurisdiction  and  tyranny  of  prelates — the  alienation  of  the 
abused   wealth  and  secularization   of  the  immense  estates 
belonging  to  the  papal  establishment,  whereby  its  force  and 
vital  spirits  are  drained; — these  are  now  bewailed,  even  by 
the  clergy  of  Reformed  Churches,  as  the  most  dreadful  events 
and  serious  evils,  equivalent  to  the  abolition  of  the  institu- 
tions of  the  true  God  and  Redeemer.     Thus  the  true  religion 
and  holy  institutions  of  Jesus  are  blasphemously  confounded 
with  the  abominable  interests  and  constitutions  of  the  Man 
of  Sin,  and  His  zeal  and  glory  are  represented  as  equally 
concerned  in  the  preservation  and  vindication  of  both.  Terms 
of  the  most  opposite  signification  have  lost  all  proper  and 
distinct  meaning  in  their  mouths.     Christ  and  Antichrist — 
the  kingdom  of  the  I^amb  and  of  the  dragon — the  temple  of 
God  and  of  idols — the  worship  of  God  and  of  creatures — in- 
stead of  being  totally  and  diametrically  opposite,  are,  it  seems, 
but  different  names  for  one  and  the  same  thing.     '  Be  aston- 
ished, O   ye   heavens,  at  this!    be  horribly   afraid.'     Our 
fathers  could  not  have  believed  such  a  thing  possible,  and 
posterity  will  hardly  credit  it.     The  native  import  of  such 
language  is,  that  the  glorious  Reformation  was  a  sacrilegious 
farce,  or  a  lamentable  tragedy  of  outrage,  spoil,  and  robbery. 
Such  men,  while  they  may  pretend  to  laugh  at  Popery  as  an 
antiquated  absurdity,  are,  in  fact,  engaged  in  defence  of  the 
very  life  and  substance  of  it,  as  really  as  any  people  formerly 
were   or  presently  are.     They  are  not  content  to  receive 
again  the  mark  of  the  Beast  only  in  their  right  hand,  but  they 
are  not  ashamed  to  bear  it  in  their  forehead.     Those  minis- 
ters who  can  preach,  and  fast,  and  pray,  and  learn  the  use  of 
arms  to  such  an  effect,  or  the  nations  who  can  deliberately 
make  war  and  peace  of  such  a  tendency,  deserve  no  more  to 
be  called  Protestant — they  have  forfeited  the  very  possession 
and  name." 

However  commendable  as  a  deed  of  humanity,  the  wel- 
come and  entertainment  of  seven  thousand  refugee  Roman 
Catholic  Priests,  for  so  many  years,  was  not  fitted  to  improve 
the  religious  spirit  and  tone  of  the  British  people ;  the  more 
especially,  as  the  refugees  did  not  remain  neutral  when  in 

32 


498  PROTESTANT    CHURCH 

this  country,  but  laboured,  and  it  is  believed  not  unsuccess- 
fully, to  spread  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  Church  of 
Rome.  Strange  that  they  did  not  see  that  it  was  Popery,  in 
a  chief  degree,  which  created  the  infidelity  under  which  they 
suffered  exile,  and  by  the  hands  of  wliich  twelve  hundred  of 
their  brethren  suffered  a  violent  death.  Strange  that  they 
did  not  see  they  were  nursing  the  tyrant  under  whose  thral- 
dom they  groaned!  Very  different  to  this  country  were  the 
effects  of  the  visit  of  the  French  Protestant  and  French 
Popish  refugees.  The  one  brought  industry,  and  skill,  and 
commercial  advantage — the  other,  ignorance,  prejudice,  and 
superstition,  which  ripened  into  persecution  on  their  return 
to  their  own  land. 

Though  Great  Britain  did  not  suffer  so  severely  from  the 
French  Revolution  and  its  effects,  as  many  nations  of  the 
Continent,  whose  lands  were  the  scenes  of  actual  devastation 
and  bloodshed;  yet  the  danger  of  invasion,  and  the  expendi- 
ture of  treasure  and  life,  were  well  fitted  to  rouse  the  moral 
sensibilities  of  the  country,  and,  with  the  Divine  blessing, 
to  lead  to  salutary  thought  and  seriousness.  In  the  nine 
years  of  the  French  Revolutionary  war,  and  the  twelve  years 
of  the  war  against  Bonaparte,  above  sixteen  hundred  million 
sterling  were  Expended ;  and  though,  during  the  heat  of  the 
war,  this  burden  was  little  felt,  yet  it  was  serious  in  itself; 
and  the  loss  of  life,  the  loss  of  relatives  and  friends,  cut  dow^n 
in  the  prime  of  their  days,  could  not  fail  to  awaken  the  most 
solemn  thoughts.  I  have  already  ascribed  the  revived  reli- 
gious feeling  of  the  country,  which  appeared  in  the  end  of 
the  century,  in  part  to  this  cause;  and  the  very  manifestation 
of  the  effects  of  infidelity,  irreligion,  and  vice,  would  natu- 
rally drive  many  minds  to  true  religion  as  their  refuge,  and 
endear  it  to  them  the  more.  God  sometimes  teaches  the 
value  of  sound  principle,  by  a  manifestation  of  the  horrors 
of  its  opposite — false  principles.  But  it  is  to  the  different 
societies  for  promoting  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  at  home 
and  abroad',  among  the  young,  and  the  growni  up,  and  the 
aged — themselves  the  fruit  of  a  revived  religious  spirit — that 
I  would  attribute  the  growing  increase  and  power  of  the 
blessed  change  which  had  begun.  Perhaps  there  is  nothing 
which  better  shows  forth  the  irreligion  and  infidelity  of  much 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  than  the  absence  of  the  missionary 
spirit  from  all  the  churches  of  Christ  in  this  country  during 
that  period.  It  is  not  wonderful,  perhaps,  that  in  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries,   when  the  Church  was 


OP    FRANCE.  499 

struggling  for  her  very  existence  at  home  against  powerful 
enemies,  she  should  have  had  little  time  or  spirit  for  foreign 
missionary  enterprises,  though,  even  in  such  circumstances, 
we  believe  her  non-exertion  on  this  field  to  have  been  culpa- 
ble in  itself,  and  injurious  to  her  own  stability  and  extension. 
But  there  was  no  excuse  for  it  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
Whatever  might  be  the  wars  in  which  the  country  was  en- 
gaged with  foreign  enemies,  the  Church  at  home  was  exter- 
nally peaceful  and  prosperous.  She  had  rest  from  her  foes ; 
and  so  strongly  did  she  feel  her  obligations  to  attempt  some- 
thing for  the  honour  of  Christ  and  the  salvation  of  souls,  that, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  when  sound  in  doctrine,  mis- 
sionary undertakings  were  actually  set  on  foot  in  England 
and  in  Scotland  for  the  good  both  of  Jews  and  Heathen, 
though  upon  a  very  limited  scale.  It  is  a  melancholy  fact, 
however,  which  speaks  volumes,  that  from  the  period  of  the 
institution  of  the  "  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Chris- 
tian Knowledge"  in  1709,  with  the  exception  of  the  "  Mo- 
ravian Society"  in  1732,  and  the  "  English  Methodist"  in 
1786,  and  the  "  Baptist"  in  1792,  there  was  not  a  single 
missionary  association  formed  for  the  propagation  of  that 
Gospel,  the  knowledge  and  belief  of  which,  we  are  assured, 
are  essential  to  salvation  by  any  religious  party  or  Christian 
Church  in  Great  Britain,  for  the  protracted  period  of  eighty 
years!  Since  then  not  a  year  has  passed  in  which  various 
associations  have  not  been  formed  for  the  furtherance  of  the 
Gospel  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Some  fifty  societies  of 
leading  importance,  connected  with  different  divisions  of  the 
Christian  Church,  could  be  named.  What  a  happy  change 
is  this!  What  a  token  of  decided  revival,  and  what  a  foun- 
dation laid  for  further  progress !  It  is  interesting  and  worthy 
of  notice,  that  the  first  Bible  Society  was  formed  in  1670, 
and  the  first  Missionary  Society  in  1663;  and  that  the  head 
of  the  one  was  Dr.  Thomas  Gouge,  and  the  principal  founder 
of  the  other  the  Rev.  Richard  Baxter,  both  of  them  Puritan 
and  Presbyterian  divines.  The  missionary  spirit  of  Baxter 
is  well  known.*     How  striking  the  contrast  between  these 

*  The  state  of  the  heathen  appears  to  have  occupied  the  thoug-hts 
of  Baxter  through  the  whole  course  of  his  ministry.  Numerous  allu- 
sions and  references  to  the  subject  are  found  in  his  writings.  In  the 
Preface  to  his  work,  entitled,  the  "  Reasons  of  the  Christian  Religion," 
he  states,  that  his  desire  to  promote  the  conversion  of  idolaters  and 
infidels  to  God  and  the  Christian  faith,  was  one  of  the  reasons  which 
prompted  him  to  write  that  work.     "The  doleful  thought,  that  five 


500 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


good  men  in  the  midst  of  persecution,  providing  for  the  cir- 
culation of  the  Word  of  God  and  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
in  the  American  wilderness,  and  multitudes  of  professed  min- 
isters of  the  Gospel  in  the  midst  of  external  ease  and  pros- 
parts  of  the  world  were  still  heathens  and  Mohammedans,  and  that 
Christian  princes  and  preachers  did  no  more  for  their  recovery," 
awakened  the  most  painful  anxiety  and  distress  in  his  mind.  In  his 
work,  "  How  to  do  good  to  many,"  «&c.,  he  asks,  "  Is  it  not  possible 
at  least,  to  help  the  poor  ignorant  Armenians,  Greeks,  Muscovites, 
and  other  Christians  who  have  no  printing  among  them,  nor  much 
preaching,  and  knowledge,  and  for  want  of  printing  have  very  few 
Bibles,  even  for  their  churches  or  ministers  ?  Could  nothing  be  done 
to  get  some  Bibles,  Catechisms,  and  practical  books  printed  in  their 
own  tongues,  and  given  among  them  ?  I  know  there  is  a  difficulty 
in  the  way ;  but  money,  and  willingness,  and  diligence,  might  do 
something.  Might  not  something  be  done  in  other  plantations  as 
well  as  in  New  England  towards  the  conversion  of  the  natives  there  ? 
Might  not  some  skilful  zealous  preachers  be  sent  thither,  who  would 
promote  serious  piety  among  those  of  the  English  that  have  too  little 
of  it,  teach  the  natives  the  Gospel,  and  our  planters  how  to  behave 
themselves  so  as  to  win  souls  to  Christ?" 

At  the  close  of  his  life,  and  on  the  near  approach  of  eternity,  his 
mind  was  deeply  interested  on  this  important  subject.  The  un- 
bounded benevolence  of  his  heart  is  poured  forth  in  the  following  ex- 
tract from  his  solemn  review  of  his  own  character,  made  in  his  last 
days: 

"  My  soul  is  much  more  afflicted  with  the  thoughts  of  the  miserable 
world,  and  more  drawn  out  in  desire  of  their  conversion  than  hereto- 
fore. 1  was  wont  to  look  little  further  than  England  in  my  prayers, 
as  not  considering  the  state  of  the  rest  of  the  world ;  only  I  prayed 
for  the  Jews — that  was  almost  all.  But  now,  as  I  better  understand 
the  case  of  the  world  and  the  method  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  so  there 
is  nothing  that  lies  so  heavy  upon  my  heart  as  the  thought  of  the 
miserable  nations  of  the  earth.  It  being  the  most  astonishing  part 
of  all  God's  providence  to  me,  that  he  so  far  forsakes  almost  all  the 
world,  and  confines  his  special  favour  to  so  few — that  so  small  a  part 
of  the  world  has  the  profession  of  Christianity  in  comparison  of  hea- 
thens, Mohammedans,  and  infidels!  and  that  among  professed  Chris- 
tians there  are  so  few  that  are  saved  from  gross  delusions  and  have 
any  competent  knowledge;  and  that  among  those  there  are  so  few 
that  are  seriously  religious,  and  truly  set  their  hearts  on  heaven — 
I  cannot  be  affected  so  much  with  the  calamities  of  my  own  rela- 
tions or  the  land  of  my  nativity,  as  with  the  case  of  the  heathen, 
Mohammedan,  and  ignorant  nations  of  the  earth.  No  part  of  my 
prayers  is  so  deeply  serious  as  that  for  the  conversion  of  the  infi- 
del and  ungodly  world — that  God's  name  may  be  sanctified,  and  his 
kingdom  come,  and  his  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven. 
Nor  was  I  ever  before  so  sensible  what  a  plague  the  division  of  lan- 
guages was  which  hinders  our  speaking  to  them  for  their  conversion; 
nor  what  a  great  sin  tyranny  is,  which  keeps  out  the  Gospel  from 
most  of  the  nations  of  the  world.     Could  we  but  go  among  Tartars, 


OF    FRA.NCE.  501 

perity,  talking  perpetually  of  friendship  and  the  love  of  man, 
and  yet  leaving  millions  on  millions  of  their  fellow-men  to 
perish  without  a  single  efibrt,  yea,  hostile  to  any  effort  to 
give  them  that  truth  which  alone  can  save. 

The  immense  increased  circulation  of  the  Scriptures, 
through  the  medium  of  the  various  Bible  Societies  which 
were  called  into  existence  early  in  the  present  century — the 
consequent  growth  of  general  knowledge  and  sound  public 
opinion — in  part  the  fruit  of  the  action  of  the  Word  of  God — 
the  intimate  union  and  co-operation  of  Christians  for  religious 
objects  who  had  long  been  estranged — God's  blessing  upon 
Christians  at  home  when  contributing  and  labouring  for  the 
salvation  of  sinners  abroad — all  tended  to  the  spread  of  evan- 
gelical preaching,  both  in  the  Established  churches  and 
among  the  Dissenters.  Though  the  people  of  Scodand  had 
little  or  no  political  power  at  this  time,  yet  public  sentiment 
began  to  exert  a  strong  and  growing  influence  upon  the  ad- 
ministration of  Church  patronage.  Many  patrons  exercised 
the  Act  of  Queen  Anne  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  acceptable 
evangelical  ministers,  and  regarded  their  patronages  rather 
as  a  trust  for  the  good  of  parishes,  than  as  the  sources  of  pri- 
vate influence  or  personal  rewards. 

In  the  meantime,  the  cause  of  sound  ecclesiastical  policy, 
as  well  as  evangelical  religion  in  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
was  greatly  aided  by  the  publication,  for  many  years,  of  the 
"Edinburgh  Christian  Instructor,"  under  the  powerful  edi- 
torship of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Andrew  Thomson.  This  peri- 
odical rendered  to  Scotland  a  similar  service  to  that  which 
the  "  Christian  Observer"  rendered  to  sound  doctrine  and 
principle  in  the  Church  of  England.  It  can  scarcely  be  ques- 
tioned, that  not  a  litfle  of  the  good  which  has  appeared  in 
the  Established  Churches  of  late  years,  has  been  owing  to 
the  seed  which  was  sown  by  these  able  Journals  in  earlier 
days;  nor  have  they  ceased  to  exert  a  powerfully  propitious 
influence  still,  though  the  work  is  now  divided  among  a 
greater  number  of  coadjutors. 

Another  important  source  of  good  was  the  discussion  in 

Turks,  and  heathens,  and  speak  their  language,  I  should  be  but  little 
troubled  for  the  silencing  of  eighteen  hundred  ministers  at  once  in 
England,  nor  for  all  the  rest  that  were  cast  out  here,  and  in  Scotland, 
and  Ireland,  there  being  no  employment  in  the  world  so  desirable,  in 
my  eyes,  as  to  labour  for  the  winning  of  such  miserable  souls,  which 
makes  me  greatly  honour  Mr.  John  Elliot  the  apostle  of  the  Indians 
in  New  England,  and  whoever  else  have  laboured  in  such  work." 


502 


PROTESTANT    CHURCH 


Church  Courts,  Presbyteries,  Synods,  and  General  Assem- 
blies, of  cases  which  involved  great  principles  of  Scripture, 
or  ecclesiastical  policy,  and  which,  through  the  press,  found 
their  way,  more  or  less,  fully  to  the  public.  This  is  one  of 
the  vast  advantages  of  Presbyterian  Church  government,  to 
which  other  forms  of  rule  are  strangers.  It  affords  scope  for 
discussion,  and  so  for  the  exposure  of  error  and  abuse,  and 
the  elucidation  and  propagation  of  truth.  Who  can  doubt 
that  the  Church  of  England,  especially  in  these  times  of  in- 
quiry and  discussion,  is  weak  compared  with  what  she  might 
be  from  the  absence  of  such  courts.  The  vote  may  often  be 
adverse,  and,  it  may  be,  in  the  face  of  the  best  argument; 
but  the  discussion  is  of  great  service  in  preventing  evil,  and 
in  maturing  the  mind  of  the  Church  for  change,  and  in  has- 
tening on  a  return  to  a  sounder  state  of  things.  The  able 
discussions  which  year  after  year  took  place  on  many  great 
questions,  such  as  against  Pluralities,  and  which  practically, 
though  not  formally,  carried  them,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  had 
an  influence  favourable  to  the  revival  of  evangelical  religion. 
Presbyterian  government,  moreover,  is  fitted  to  propagate 
and  perpetuate  salutary  influence,  after  the  influence  has 
once  been  called  into  existence. 

Nor  must  we  forget  the  special  and  kind  Providence  of 
God,  in  raising  up  several  very  eminent  persons,  in  both 
parts  of  the  island,  and  in  assigning  to  them  distinct  spheres 
of  labour,  in  wliich  they  all  excelled,  and  by  means  of  which 
they  brought  divine  truth  under  the  view  of  different  in- 
fluential classes,  in  a  way  in  which  no  single  individual,  nor 
even  society  of  less  gifted  individuals,  could  have  been  ex- 
pected to  accomplish.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned, 
William  Wilberforce,  Hannah  More,  Henry  Thornton,  Dr. 
Thomson,  Dr.  M'Crie,  and  Dr.  Chalmers — all  now  gone  to 
their  reward,  with  the  exception  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  who  still 
lives  (1841)  to  see  much  of  the  fruit  for  which  he  and  others  of 
high  powers  and  similar  spirit  prayed  and  laboured,  but 
which  they  were  not  privileged  to  behold.  Let  us  hope  that 
he  is  yet  destined  to  behold  a  vast  extension  of  the  life  and 
power  of  true  religion,  and  that  through  his  own  surpassing 
labours  in  enlarging  the  Church,  and  vindicating  the  honour 
of  her  exalted  Head.  The  raising  up,  at  the  same  time,  of 
persons  of  such  rare  and  singular  gifts  and  graces — and 
others  could  be  named — indicates,  in  a  remarkable  manner, 
God's  interposition  to  bless  his  Church. 

Shortly  after  the  termination  of  the  war  in  1815,  there 


OF    FRANCE.  503 

was  a  decided  revival  of  religion  in  many  families  of  the 
middle  and  higher  classes  of  society  in  Edinburgh,  chiefly 
owing  to  the  faithful  application  of  evangelical  truth  to  the 
heart  and  the  conscience,  under  the  ministration  of  Dr.  Thom- 
son. At  the  same  period,  a  similar  change  appeared  at  Glas- 
gow, as  the  fruit  of  the  labours  of  Dr.  Chalmers;  and 
through  the  press  the  blessed  influence  was  widely  diflused. 
Ere  long,  evangelical  religion  appeared  in  several  of  the 
Episcopal  pulpits  of  Scotland,  from  which  it  had  well  nigh 
departed,  if  it  ever  held  a  place  in  them.  In  this  way  many 
of  the  higher  classes  heard  and  received  truths  to  which  they 
had  been  altogether  strangers.  In  the  meantime,  evangelical 
religion  steadily  spread  among  the  people  generally,  and 
sometimes  in  very  striking  forms.  About  the  year  1814, 
simultaneous  revivals,  of  considerable  extent,  appeared  in 
several  Highland  parishes,  such  as  Arran.  Many  were  ad- 
ded to  the  Church  of  such  as  should  be  saved;  and,  through 
the  labours  of  the  "  Society  in  Scodand  for  Propagating 
Christian  Knowledge,"  and  the  "  Gaelic  School  Society," 
it  is  certain  that  the  spirit  of  true  religion  was  widely  diff'used 
in  various  other  quarters. 

Such  was  the  growing  progress  of  evangelical  religion  in 
the  Established  Church,  that  she  had  now  strength  to  insti- 
tute and  maintain  difTerent  schemes  of  Christian  usefulness 
for  herself.  The  faithful  among  her  ministers  and  people 
had  all  along  carried  on,  and  stifl  continue  to  carry  on,  the 
same  objects  with  Christians  of  other  denominations,  asso- 
ciated into  societies;  but  now  she  would  act  for  herself,  and 
was  the  first,  we  believe,  as  a  Church,  to  do  so.  As  there 
can  be  little  question  that  this  is  the  Scriptural  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding, it  may  be  expected  that  she  shall  receive  the  richer 
blessing.  Already  she  has  five  great  schemes  :  the  Educa- 
tional at  home  for  the  Lowlands,  as  well  as  Highlands  and 
Islands,  embracing  schools  and  teaching  children  ; — the  Co- 
lonial scheme,  for  providing  churches  in  all  the  many  colonies 
of  the  British  empire,  and  making  provision  for  the  reli- 
gious wants  of  the  Scottish  Presbyterians  scattered  through- 
out the  continent  of  Europe;  already  the  Colonial  Church 
of  Canada  alone  numbers  above  sixty  ministers,  and  every 
year  is  adding  to  the  number ;— the  scheme  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, intended  to  convey  the  Gospel  of  salvation  to  the 
heathen:  the  sphere  of  labour  has  hitherto  been  confined  to 
the  three  Presidencies  of  the  East  Indies:  the  British  la- 
bourers are  twelve  in  number,  of  the  highest  qualifications, 


504 


PROTESTANT   CHURCH 


and  their  past  success  furnishes  the  best  pledge  and  promise 
of  future  and  extensive  usefulness  ; — the  Church  Extension 
scheme,  intended  to  provide  churches  and  the  means  of  sal- 
vation to  destitute  districts  at  home,  by  the  subdivision  of 
parishes,  Slc.  The  success  of  this  scheme  has,  for  the  time, 
been  perhaps  unprecedented  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  In  six  years  the  sum  of  ^6288, 000  had  been  raised; 
and  two  hundred  and  ten  churches  built,  or  building,  or  in 
the  course  of  being  built;  while  not  less  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  persons,  it  is  estimated,  have  been  already 
brought  within  the  reach  of  the  Gospel  by  its  instrument- 
ality. x\nd,  lastly,  there  is  the  scheme  for  the  Conversion 
of  God's  ancient  people,  the  Jews — the  more  recent,  but  not 
the  least  interesting  of  these  Christian  enterprises;  its  la- 
bours, though  only  beginning,  are  full  of  promise.  Leaving 
the  contributions  to  Church  Extension  out  of  view,  the 
whole  sum  raised  for  the  other  four  schemes,  amounts  to  not 
less  than  ^16,000  annually — compared  with  the  necessities 
of  the  respective  cases,  an  inconsiderable  sum;  but,  taking 
into  account  that,  a  few  years  ago,  no  contribution  was  made 
by  the  Church,  as  a  Church,  for  any  of  these  objects,  no 
small  proof  of  the  enlarged  and  growing  revival  with  which 
she  has  been  blessed  by  her  great  Head.  Such  is  her  mis- 
sionary progress,  that  she  now  needs  and  possesses  a  month- 
ly periodical,  expressly  devoted  to  the  recording  of  her  pro- 
ceedings. Its  sale  is  nearly  eight  thousand  copies  monthly.* 

*  A  remarkable  proof  of  the  revived  evangelical  spirit  of  the  day 
is  to  be  found  in  the  immense  sale  of  works  of  standard  practical 
theology.  I  do  not  refer  to  the  vast  and  meritorious  labours  of  the 
"  Religious  Tract  Society  of  London,"  to  the  olden  theology  which 
they  have  recalled  from  obscurity,  and  the  cheap  and  admirable  libra- 
ries of  all  sizes  which  they  have  formed,  and  which  they  are  spread- 
ing over  the  country,  but  to  the  large  sales  of  private  publishers.  Mr. 
Blackie,  of  Glasgow — a  leading  publisher  in  Scotland — has  kindly  in- 
formed  me  of  his  sale  of  a  few  principal  evangelical  works  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  and  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  this  is  but  one 
publishing  house.  Of  "  Haweis'  Commentary  on  the  Scriptures"  he 
has  sold  nearly  thirty  thousand  copies  ;  of  "  Brown's  Self-Interpreting 
Bible,"  nine  thousand  copies.  There  are  not  less  than  four  other 
editions  of  the  same  work,  the  property  of  other  publishers,  and 
doubtless  their  sales  have  also  been  very  great.  Of  "  Watson's  Body 
of  Divinity,"  nearly  fifteen  thousand  copies  ;  "  Dwight's  Theology," 
nine  thousand  copies;  "Fleetwood's  Life  of  Christ,"  six  thousand 
copies  in  three  years ;  "  Baxter's  Saint's  Rest,"  five  thousand  five 
hundred  copies.  Such  is  a  specimen  of  works  of  practical  theology. 
A  few  others  bearing  on  theology  may  be  added,  such  as  the  "  Scots 


OP    FRANCE.  505 

The  great  political  change  which  took  place  in  1832,  and 
which  particularly  affected  Scotland,  by  adding  to  the  popu- 
lar influence  in  the  country,  favourably  influenced  the  exer- 
cise of  Church  patronage.  The  number  of  faithful  ministers 
and  elders  was  now  so  multiplied,  that,  in  1834,  the  evangel- 
ical, or  popular  party,  gained  the  ascendency  in  the  General 
Assembly — an  ascendency  which  they  had  not  enjoyed  for 
nearly  eighty  years.  It  is  particularly  worthy  of  notice,  that 
this  was  not  owing  to,  nor  in  connection  with,  secular  poli- 
tics. The  progress  was  decided  and  growing  before :  political 
changes  may  have  aided  it,  but  that  is  all.  Though  these 
changes  had  never  taken  place,  the  same  result  must,  ere 
long,  have  been  attained.  Ecclesiastical  are  not  synonymous 
with  political  parties.     The  first  thing  which  the  majority 

Worthies,"  nine  thousand  copies ;  "  Moshiem's  Church  Histery,"  nine 
thousand  copies  ;  "  Stackhouse's  History  of  the  Bible,"  in  four  years, 
five  thousand  copies.  With  the  exception  of  Fleetwood  and  Brown, 
Mr.  Blackie's  sale  of  the  works  which  have  been  noticed  has  been 
almost  confined  to  Scotland,  and  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  works 
are  not  of  trifling  value.  They  are  comparatively  large  and  costly, 
and  yet  the  sale  has  been  most  extensive.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  also, 
that  it  is  only  works  of  evangelical  sentiment,  not  works  of  cold  or 
unsound  theology,  which  prove  so  acceptable.  Even  selections  from 
the  works  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  though  in  many  respects  attractive,  and 
edited  by  the  late  accomplished  Rev.  Mr,  Patterson,  of  Falkirk,  did 
not  meet  the  taste  of  the  Scottish  public,  while  a  work  of  similar 
size,  "  The  Beauties  of  the  Rev.  Ralph  Erskine,"  has  had  the  very 
large  sale  of  nine  thousand  copies.  The  only  unsound  theological 
work  which  has  had  an  extensive  sale  of  late  years,  is  the  "  Morning 
and  Evening  Sacrifice ;"  but  this,  it  is  believed,  has  been  chiefly  in 
England,  and  its  success  rather  proves  the  felt  want  of  a  book  of  a 
devotional  character  at  the  time  of  its  publication,  than  any  approba- 
tion of  its  slender  and  defective  Christianity.  Mr.  Blackie's  work  on 
«'  Family  Worship,"  now  publishing,  by  the  time  it  has  been  out  for  a 
year,  will,  it  is  estimated,  have  had  a  sale  of  twenty  thousand  copies. 
It  is  well  known  that  of  late  years  no  class  of  books  have  been  in 
greater  demand  than  devotional  works,  as  the  large  and  rapid  editions 
through  which  several  have  run  amply  testifies.  This,  of  itself,  is  no 
bad  symptom  of  the  revived  influence  of  evangelical  religion.  Surely 
no  one  acquainted  with  Scotland  can  imagine  that  there  was  in  the 
end  of  the  last,  or  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  as  great  a 
thirst  for  sound  and  devotional  theology  as  we  have  seen  to  prevail  at 
the  present  day.  None  can  suppose  that  there  would  have  been  such 
sales  of  such  works  as  have  been  referred  to  in  1792.  It  may  be  ad- 
ded, that  the  plan,  the  amazing  cheapness,  and  the  unprecedented  sale 
of  "The  Scottish  Christian  Herald,"  through  five  successive  years, 
are  quite  in  harmony  with  the  above  important  facts,  and  prove  the 
same  point. 


506 


PROTESTANT  CHURCH 


did  as  soon  as  they  had  come  to  power  was,  not  to  seek  for 
any  aggrandizement  for  themselves,  but  to  protect  their  peo- 
ple against  unacceptable  and  useless  ministers.  With  this 
view,  and  after  the  best  legal  advice,  what  is  popularly  called 
the  Veto  Act  was  passed — a  measure  which,  whatever  may 
be  thought  of  the  difficulties  into  which  it  has  ultimately 
brought  the  Church  with  the  Civil  Courts  of  the  country,  it 
must  be  acknowledged  by  all  parties,  has  wrought  excellent- 
ly for  the  religious  purpose  for  which  it  was  intended.  It 
has  doubdess  added  to  the  evangelical  influence  of  the  Church, 
and  so  of  the  country ;  in  other  words,  to  the  great  end  for 
which  a  Christian  Church  was  instituted  at  all. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  any  thing  of  the  progress  of  the 
Church  of  Scodand  during  the  last  six  years,  since  the  evan- 
gelical party  acquired  the  ascendency.  It  is  too  well  known, 
and  too  striking  to  be  forgotten.  Judging  by  the  views 
which  many  have  been  accustomed  to  entertain  of  the  party, 
imagining  that  they  consist  of  weak,  well  disposed  men — so 
much  absorbed  in  the  study  of  religion,  that  they  do  not 
care  for,  if  they  are  not  actually  opposed  to,  the  claims  of 
literature  and  science — one  might  fear  that  their  ascendency 
could  be  associated  only  with  ignorance  and  fanaticism.  How 
much,  then,  must  the  country  be  surprised  to  find,  the  first 
men  of  general  and  acknowledged  talent — the  man  of  greatest 
genius  in  the  age — the  leading  man  of  science — the  man  of 
highest  attainments  in  oriental  literature  in  Scotland,  all  num- 
bered with  this  once  despised  party;  and  that,  since  their  in- 
fluence became  prevailing,  there  has  been  a  zealous  and  suc- 
cessful effort  to  improve  the  literary  and  theological  attain- 
ments of  the  students,  to  an  extent  which  was  unknown 
before.  I  need  not  refer  to  the  increased  labours  and  sacri- 
fices after  a  higher  style  of  popular  education,  or  to  the  great 
internal  reforms  which  are  going  forward,  particularly  in  the 
exercise  of  discipline  on  unworthy  probationers  and  minis- 
ters; so  that,  instead,  as  formerly,  of  vice  being  too  often 
sheltered,  it  is  now  sure  of  meeting  with  its  appropriate 
award.  Nor  need  I  refer  to  the  deUghtful  spirit  of  union 
with  other  sound  Presbyterian  bodies  which  has  been  call- 
ed forth — of  the  union  of  a  respectable  class  of  Seceders 
in  Scodand  with  the  Established  Church,  re-echoed  by  a 
similar  and  still  larger  union  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches 
of  Ireland;  nay,  which  has  reached  even  to  the  wilds  of 
Canada,  and  joined  in  brotherhood  those  who  had  long  been 
separated  there.     Nor  need  I  refer  to  what  is  best  of  all,  to 


OF    FRANCE.  507 

the  decided  revivals  of  religion  in  various  parishes  in  the 
north,  and  south,  and  east,  and  west  of  Scodand,  which  have 
appeared  within  these  two  years ;  revivals  which  are  bring- 
ing in  hundreds  at  once  to  the  spiritual  fold  of  the  chief  Shep- 
herd and  Bishop  of  souls,  and  assuring  the  Church,  amid  all 
her  difficulties  and  trials,  that  she  is  a  Church  of  Christ,  what- 
ever some  parties  may  say  to  the  disparagement  of  her  title, 
also  that  her  present  course  of  reformation  and  progress  is 
the  right  one,  and  the  course  which  she  must  be  encouraged 
yet  more  and  more  to  pursue.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  refer 
to  the  greatly  increased  public  interest  which  is  felt  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  Courts  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  growing 
appreciation  of  the  principles  and  advantages  of  Presbyterian 
Church  government;  its  scriptural  character,  and  entire  ac- 
cordance with  the  views  of  the  most  enlightened  representa- 
tive civil  rule.  All  these,  and  many  other  pleasing  proofs 
of  spiritual  progress,  particularly  the  enlarged  missionary 
spirit  of  the  Church,  might  be  referred  to;  but  it  is  unne- 
cessary. Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  influence  of  the  Evan- 
gelical party,  in  spite  of  opposition  from  enemies  of  the 
Church  without,  and  mistaken  friends  within,  is  steadily  and 
rapidly  advancing.  The  majorities  of  the  General  Assembly 
are  yearly  increasing:  the  last  (1840)  almost  doubled  its 
predecessor.  And  such  is  the  spu'it  of  prayer  and  union,  of 
self-sacrifice  and  liberality  for  the  good  of  others,  and  of  re- 
gard for  the  honour  of  the  Redeemer,  that  there  is  every 
reason  to  think,  instead  of  declining,  they  will  grow  stronger 
and  stronger. 

The  Church,  indeed,  since  her  counsels  and  proceedings 
became  thoroughly  evangelical,  has  not  been  without  trials, 
but  these  seem  to  have  been  sanctified  to  her  greater  zeal  and 
usefulness.  First,  there  was  violent  hostility  from  without; 
an  effort  to  break  up  the  union  of  Church  and  State  altogether, 
as  an  unscriptural  thing.  Here  the  Church  vigorously  met 
her  opponents,  first  in  argument,  and  then  by  a  great  exten- 
sion of  the  means  of  religious  instruction  and  worship.  So 
far  as  can  be  at  present  estimated,  she  sustained  no  injury, 
she  lost  no  part  of  her  adherents  by  this  assault.  On  the 
contrary,  while  the  discussion  has  been  useful  in  bringing 
out  principles  which  involve  the  honour  of  Christ  as  king  of 
nations,  and  which  had  been  much  forgotten,  it  has  also 
served  to  direct  the  attention  of  statesmen  and  politicians  to 
the  important  truth,  that  the  disorders  of  communities  and 
nations  are  to  be  sought  for  in  moral  causes,  and  that  the 


508  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

restoration  of  health  and  happiness  is  to  be  secured  by  moral 
and  religious  means.  The  gross  irreligion  and  Sabbath  pro- 
fanation which  prevail,  especially  in  the  larger  towns,  and 
the  Infidelity  and  Popery  which  seem  to  be  increasing  in 
particular  districts,  carry  no  just  reflection  against  the  pre- 
sent labours  of  the  Church.  Whatever  ground  of  humilia- 
tion they  may  suggest  for  the  relaxation  and  carelessness  of 
the  past,  they  are  too  old  to  be  charged  upon  the  present 
generation  with  any  equity.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  ani- 
mating spirit  of  this  hostility  has  long  existed,  and  that  cir- 
cumstances are  only  now  bringing  it  into  outward  manifes- 
tation. It  is  not  improbable  that  it  is  the  very  good  which 
the  Church  is  doing,  and  threatening  to  do,  which  is  pro- 
voking the  great  adversary  of  God  and  man  to  unwonted 
violence. 

The  other  opposition  with  which  the  Church  has  been 
called  to  contend  is  more  serious.  It  is  from  within — from 
a  considerable  party  of  her  own  ministers  and  members — 
those  who  once  held  the  sway,  but  who  now  form  the  mi- 
nority. Her  contest  with  them,  they  being  aided  by  the 
courts  of  law,  is  still  in  progress.  The  question  at  stake  is 
not  here,  the  point  of  the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  the 
union  of  Church  and  State,  but  whether  Civil  Courts  shall, 
or  shall  not,  bear  rule  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  shall 
have  the  exclusive  power  of  interpreting  what  is  civil  and 
ecclesiastical,  and  governing  the  Established  Church  accord- 
ingly. The  former  controversy  respected  the  laivfulness  of 
the  union  of  Church  and  State;  this  concerns  the  right  terms 
on  which  the  union  should  be  formed.  In  short,  the  exist- 
ing controversy  is  the  Erastian  controversy  revived,  and  of 
course  involves  the  supreme  Headship  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  his  Church.  Not  a  few  good  men  may  not  see 
things  in  this  light,  and  much  less,  that  dislike  to  evan- 
gelical religion  is  the  main  source  of  the  opposition  of  many 
to  the  present  proceedings  of  the  Church.  But  events  in 
the  providence  of  God  are  rapidly  making  this  apparent.  It 
is  certain,  that  if  men  are  strangers  to  true  religion,  they  can- 
not value  aright  the  honour  of  Christ  and  the  claims  of  his 
Church ;  and,  if  they  are  indifferent  and  hostile  to  these  (as 
all  men  naturally  are,)  they  cannot  approve,  but  must  con- 
demn the  existing  position  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  In 
perfect  harmony  with  this,  we  find  the  enemies  of  all  religion, 
also  the  enemies  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  as  an  Establish- 
ed Church,  and  the  secular  and  worldly-minded  professors 


OF    FRANCE.  509 

of  Christianity,  among  her  leading  opponents.  Nay,  so 
strong  a  bond  of  union  is  hatred  to  a  common  object  of  dis- 
like, that  those  who  for  years,  upon  all  other  matters  have 
been  sworn  foes,  are  here  seen  uniting  together  as  devoted 
friends  and  brethren.  Any  of  a  different  spirit  and  charac- 
ter from  those  described — and  there  are  many  such  labour- 
ing under  grievous  ignorance,  prejudice,  and  misapprehen- 
sion— are  the  exception,  not  the  rule. 

Whatever  may  be  the  result  of  this  controversy,  it  has, 
at  least,  as  yet  done  no  injury  to  the  Church  as  a  Christian 
Church — a  spiritual  society  intended  to  spread  spiritual  know- 
ledge and  feeling  among  the  people.  On  the  contrary,  it  has 
called  forth  much  prayer  which  would  not  otherwise  have 
been  offered.  It  is  endearing  the  ministers  and  office-bearers 
of  the  Church,  who  are  running  hazards  for  the  Christian 
people,  in  whose  behalf  these  risks  are  encountered.  It  is 
making  the  memory  of  the  martyrs  more  fragrant.  It  is 
drawing  the  public  attention  to  the  constitution  of  the  Church 
of  Christ — the  distinction  between  what  is  civil  and  what  is 
sacred,  and  the  honour  which  is  due  to  Christ  as  the  King 
and  Head  of  his  Church ;  in  short,  instructing  the  people  in 
great  truths  which  are  little  known  and  much  forgotten.  Not 
improbably  it  is  intended  to  expose  to  public  indignation  and 
contempt,  the  false  principles  and  evil  policy  which  ruled  the 
Church  of  Scotland  for  generations,  and  which  well  nigh 
brought  her  to  destruction;  and  also  to  hold  out,  as  a  model 
to  other  Churches,  the  principles  by  which  they  ought  to  be 
guided.  Though  it  be  upon  the  soil  of  Scotland  that  the 
contest  is  at  present  waging,  the  principles  involved  are  more 
extensive  in  their  operation.  There  is  reason  to  think  that 
the  same  Erastian  spirit  which  troubles  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, is  at  present  vexing  the  reviving  evangelical  Church  of 
France,  as  it  has  long  depressed  the  Church  of  England. 
Secular-minded  men,  and  particularly  the  politicians  of  this 
world,  would  fain  coerce  and  put  down  that  Gospel  doctrine 
and  kingdom  which  they  so  foolishly  imagine  to  be  at  war 
with  their  peace,  but  which  is  really  the  only  source  of 
abiding  happiness,  order,  and  freedom.  The  second  Psalm, 
however,  addressed  to  Messiah,  renders  the  effort  useless, 
yea  fatal:—"  Why  do  the  heathen  rage,  and  the  people  ima- 
gine a  vain  thing?  The  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves, 
and  the  rulers  take  counsel  together,  against  the  Lord,  and 
against  his  Anointed,  saying,  Let  us  break  their  bands  asun- 
der, and  cast  away  their  cords  from  us.     He  that  silteth  in 


510  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

the  heavens  shall  laugh :  the  Lord  shall  have  them  in  deri- 
sion. Then  shall  he  speak  unto  them  in  his  wrath,  and  vex 
them  in  his  sore  displeasure.  Yet  have  I  set  my  king  upon 
my  hill  of  Zion." 

Such  is  the  present  character  and  position  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  The  revival  of  evangelical  doctrine  and  practice 
within  her  pale,  especially  of  late  years,  has  been  marvellous ; 
its  rapidity  greater  than  even  the  most  sanguine  could  have 
anticipated.  Opposition,  instead  of  overthrowing,  has  hither- 
to only  confirmed  and  extended  her — deepening  the  interest 
of  the  pious  and  the  prayerful  in  her  cause.  The  attitude 
which  she  occupies  is  a  noble  one — at  once  self-denied  and 
generous — refusing  power  for  her  office-bearers — seeking  it 
only  for  the  protection  and  edification  of  her  people — an 
attitude  which  has  seldom  been  exhibited  by  Christian 
Churches  when  allured  by  the  temptations  of  power.  And, 
now,  what  are  her  prospects  for  the  future?  It  may  be,  that 
in  punishment  of  past  unfaithfulness,  and  for  her  greater 
purification,  and  for  the  higher  honour  and  glory  of  her 
Head,  God  is  preparing  for  her  darker  days  than  has  be- 
fallen her  for  a  protracted  season.  It  is  not  unusual,  under 
the  Divine  Governor,  to  visit  with  revival  previously  to  the 
infliction  of  trial.  It  may  be,  on  the  other  hand,  that  God 
intends  present  mercy  to  be  the  precursor  of  richer  mercy  in 
the  future;  that  he  is  blessing  the  Church,  that  she  may  be 
a  blessing  to  the  world,  and  bear  a  leading  part  in  ushering 
in  the  glory  of  the  "  latter  days." 

Whatever  may  be  the  intention  of  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church,  I  think  we  may  safely  say,  reviewing  her  past  his- 
tory, that,  apart  altogether  from  her  more  spiritual  objects  in 
the  conversion  and  edification  of  souls,  she  will,  whether  in 
affliction  or  in  prosperity,  be  found  the  warm  Friend  of 
Knowledge,  of  Freedom,  and  of  Social  Happiness  and 
Improvement.  These  are  the  great  objects  after  which  all 
intelligent  men  are  labouring.  These  are  the  very  grounds 
on  which  Infidelity  founds  her  pretensions  to  public  coun- 
tenance and  support.  The  history  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, through  three  hundred  years,  proclaims  that  there  is 
not  only  no  inconsistency  between  Christianity  and  general 
knowledge,  but  that  the  Presbyterian  Evangelical  Church  is 
a  zealous  friend  of  knowledge,  both  in  its  elementary  cha- 
racter of  universal  popular  education,  and  in  the  higher  forms 
of  literature  and  science  for  the  more  instructed.  In  proof  of 
this,  it  is  not  needful  to  appeal  to  the  distant  past — to  the 


OF    FRANCE.  511 

schools,  and  colleges,  and  learned  men  of  other  days.  We 
have  but  to  look  around  us  at  the  present  day,  to  contem- 
plate the  proceedings  of  the  Church  in  connection  with  her 
Educational  scheme — her  Normal  schools — her  additional 
chairs  of  biblical  learning.  We  have,  also,  but  to  ask  our- 
selves, whether  there  has  been  any  decline  in  literature,  or 
science,  or  art,  since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
Avhen  evangelical  religion  began  to  revive,  and  particularly 
during  the  last  few  years,  since  it  gained  its  ascendency. 
The  result  of  such  contemplations  and  questions  must  satisfy 
us,  that  the  more  true  religion  has  grown,  the  more  has 
knowledge  in  all  its  forms  grown.  Nor  is  this  wonderful. 
True  reUgion  is  the  best  food  for  the  intellect.  It  raises  up 
a  large  body  of  thoughtful  and  intelligent  minds:  it  increases 
the  reading  public.  Besides,  by  quickening  the  tone  of  so- 
ciety, it  indirectly  reaches  those  authors  and  philosophers 
who  refuse  to  receive  its  saving  blessings.  An  irreligious 
nation,  such  as  France,  may  be  able  to  boast  of  men  who 
excel  in  art  and  science,  but  she  will  not  carry  knowledge  to 
the  mass  of  society,  and  her  triumphs,  where  unsanctified, 
will  be  comparatively  limited.  Doubdess,  the  most  perfect 
and  general  knowledge  of  the  Works  of  God  will  be  in  the 
blessed  day  of  the  Millenium,  when  the  knowledge  of  the 
Word  of  God  shall  be  deep  and  universal.  Irreligion  is  in- 
jurious to  the  intellect  as  well  as  the  morals  of  a  people. 
Many  true  Christians  may  be  very  humble  in  their  mental 
attainments,  but  had  it  not  been  for  their  Christianity,  there 
is  reason  to  believe  these  attainments  would  have  been  still 
more  slender  than  they  are. 

With  regard  to  freedom,  personal  and  national,  whatever 
Infidelity,  misled  by  the  deeds  of  Popery,  may  say  to  the 
contrary,  true  religion  is  its  best  friend.  It  is  only  the  Gos- 
pel which  can  destroy  the  selfish,  ambitious,  anti-social  feel- 
ings of  human  nature,  and  teach  men  to  respect  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  others  from  principle  and  conscience.  Any 
other  sort  of  liberty,  such  as  that  of  ancient  heathen,  or  of 
modern  Popish  republics,  does  not  provide  for  the  happiness 
of  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  but  only  of  a  class,  and  so 
quickly  perishes  through  ignorance  and  vice,  as  to  give  coun- 
tenance to  the  notion,  that  all  civil  governments  and  nations 
must,  like  individuals,  necessarily  pass  through  a  state  of  in- 
fancy, manhood,  and  certain  decay.  The  history  of  Britain, 
particularly  of  Scotland,  in  connection  with  her  Church, 
clearly  shows  that  evangelical  religion  was  the  parent  of  her 


512  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 

civil  freedom — that  she  was  free  just  as  she  was  religious. 
The  reign  of  Erastianism  under  James,  of  semi-Popish  per- 
secution under  Charles  II.,  and  of  cold-hearted  Moderatism 
during  a  large  part  of  last  century,  was,  in  the  two  first,  the 
reign  of  civil  despotism,  and  in  the  last,  of  the  decay  of  pub- 
lic spirit — of  political  corruption — of  abuses  and  bribery, 
which  almost  ripened  the  people  for  following  the  example 
of  the  French  Revolution.  Since  the  revival  of  evangelical 
religion  during  the  present  century,  there  has  been  an  en- 
largement of  the  public  liberty.  We  do  not  enter  upon  the 
question,  whether  it  has,  or  has  not,  been  too  ample  for  the 
smooth  and  successful  working  of  the  British  Constitution; 
but  the  fact  is  certain,  that  public  spirit  has  been  rising  from 
the  days  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  that  the  people  take 
an  interest  in,  and  enjoy  a  control  over,  the  government  of 
the  country,  which  was  altogether  unknown  during  a  large 
part  of  the  last  century,  and  which,  but  for  the  influence  of 
Christianity,  might  not  be  safe. 

And  regarding  national  happiness,  the  past  history  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  holds  out  the  most  certain  prospects  for 
the  future.  If  the  possession  of  knowledge  and  the  exercise 
of  freedom  be  important  elements  of  social  happiness,  then, 
by  securing  these,  the  Church  secures  the  public  welfare. 
But  there  is  more  than  this.  Her  history  shows  how  great 
is  her  power,  through  the  truths  which  she  difl'uses,  to  sup- 
port and  give  joy  to  the  mind  in  the  most  trying  times — 
amid  the  fires  of  martyrdom;  and  if  so,  then  how  much  more 
must  she  be  able  to  gladden  it  in  days  of  peace  and  pros- 
perity. If  she  successfully  meets  the  most  arduous,  she  can- 
not surely  be  overcome  before  the  less  formidable.  The 
truth  is,  she  carries  in  her  bosom  all  the  seeds  of  social  hap- 
piness— the  moral  virtues  and  aff'ections — fortitude,  courage, 
patience,  sympathy,  benevolence,  hope,  and  many  others. 
It  may  be  difficult,  from  the  adverse  influences  which  divide 
and  distract,  to  see  the  full  unbroken  operation  of  the  Gospel 
in  any  particular  parish  or  country ;  but  certainly  the  history  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  presents  the  nearest  approximation  to 
this  blessed  slate  of  things.  She  can  point  to  revivals  of  true 
religion  in  individual  parishes  and  districts,  and  over  large 
parts  of  her  territory,  which  changed  the  entire  moral  aspect 
of  society.  She  can,  with  gratitude  to  God,  look  back  to 
scenes — and  they  have  not  altogether  disappeared— in  which 
regard  to  the  will  of  God  was  predominant,  and  personal, 
relative,  and  social  duty,  in   its  best  forms,   flourished — 


OF   FRANCE.  513 

scenes,  in  reference  to  which  good  men  could  only  wish  that 
they  might  be  universal  and  lasting,  in  order  to  introduce  the 
glory  of  the  latter  days.  Who  can  doubt,  from  the  experi- 
ence of  the  past,  that  the  Church  of  Scotland,  retaining  and 
deepening  in  her  Evangelical  and  Presbyterian  character, 
and,  aided  by  all  due  facilities,  shall,  with  God's  blessing, 
be  the  source  of  the  highest  social  improvement  to  the  coun- 
try— shall  carry  forward  the  blessings  of  civilization  to  the 
great  body  of  the  people,  as  they  have  never  been  enjoyed 
before,  and  prove  an  example  and  a  stimulus  to  the  other 
Churches  of  the  Reformation,  to  arise  and  pursue  a  course 
of  public  usefulness  on  which  some  have  scarcely  entered? 
Judging  from  the  past,  there  are  Churches  in  regard  to  which 
it  could  not  be  certainly  affirmed,  that  their  progress  would 
be  synonymous  with  that  of  knowledge,  and  freedom,  and 
social  happiness.  But  there  is  no  reason  for  doubt  or  fear  in 
regard  to  the  Church  of  Scodand.  Her  character  is  estab- 
lished. Only  let  her  be  free,  as  a  Church  of  Christ,  of  the 
yoke  of  patronage  and  of  civil  interference  in  matters  sacred, 
and  give  her  those  means  of  extension  from  public  resources 
to  which  she  is  entided  to  look,  and,  crowned  with  the 
grace  and  blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  there  is  no  limit  which 
can  be  assigned  to  her  advancement  and  usefulness.  The 
field  is  the  world,  and  to  it,  having  gathered  together  the 
long-divided  parts  of  Presbyterianism,  and  sympathizing 
with  all  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation  now  rising  in  their 
evangelism,  will  she  direct  her  noble  energies,  and  stand^orth 
as  one  of  the  leading  forces  in  the  army  of  the  living  God, 
destined  to  bear  a  chief  part  in  overthrowing  all  opposition, 
and  establishing  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  righteousness, 
peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

In  concluding,  it  would  be  improper  to  forget  the  influ- 
ence in  behalf  of  Evangelical  Christianity,  which  has  been 
called  forth  in  the  form  of  newspapers  conducted  on  Chris- 
tian principles.  This  is  a  new  source  of  power,  which  has 
conduced  not  a  litde  to  the  progress  which  has  been  already 
gained,  and  which  holds  out  pleasing  prospects  for  the  future. 
Indeed,  their  very  existence  may  be  regarded  as  indicating 
religious  revival.  Till  within  these  few  years,  Christianity 
and'^the  proceedings  of  the  Christian  Church  might  be  said 
to  be  proscribed  in  the  newspaper  press.  Every  sort  of  in- 
telligence was  to  be  met  with  but  religious;  religion  was 
thought  a  private  matter  for  the  closet  or  the  church.  Hap- 
pily mere  secular  and  political  men  can  no  longer  despise 

33 


514        PROTESTANT  CHURCH  OF  FRANCE. 

Christianity.  It  is  lifting  up  its  head  in  the  senate  and  the 
seat  of  business,  and  can  now  number  in  its  behalf  several  im- 
portant organs  in  the  newspaper  journals  of  the  day.  What 
influence  they  exert  in  preventing  the  publication  of  unsound 
principle  in  secular  newspapers,  in  vindicating  truth,  diff'us- 
ing  religious  information,  and  concentrating  the  interest  and 
sympathy  of  Christian  men  on  Christian  objects  need  not 
be  named:  it  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  its  force.  Mere 
politicians  feel  and  confess,  whether  they  like  it  or  not,  that 
religious  questions  are  the  great  dividing  questions  of  the 
day,  by  which  Cabinets  are  made  and  unmade,  and  that  this 
again  proceeds  from  the  immense  religious  movement  which 
has  taken  place  of  late  years,  and  which,  in  spite  of  the  pro- 
gress of  infidelity  and  error  is  still  steadily  advancing.  It  is 
our  earnest  prayer  that  it  may  advance  more  and  more;  and 
that,  with  this  view,  the  newspaper  which  forms  almost  the 
only  reading  of  multitudes,  may  be  daily  rescued  from  the 
hands  of  neutrality,  ungodliness,  or  infidelity,  and  devoted  to 
the  elucidation,  maintenance,  and  propagation  of  Christian 
principle  with  all  its  unspeakable  blessings.  The  Church 
of  France  has,  with  decided  advantage,  availed  herself,  to  a 
considerable  extent,  of  the  aid  of  the  press.  It  is  well  adap- 
ted to  a  reading,  intelligent  people,  such  as  the  Protestant 
Church  raises  up  around  her;  and  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
since  she  became  so  warmly  evangelical,  has  followed  in  the 
same  course.  Her  "Christian  Instructer,"  and  "Presby- 
terian Review,"  and  "  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Re- 
cord," and  "Scottish  Christian  Herald,"  besides  various 
Christian  newspapers,  all  show  that  her  people  are  educated 
and  intelligent — that  she  is  not  afraid  of  discussion — and 
that  she  is  anxious  to  consecrate  all  the  advantages  which 
she  possesses  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  extension  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom. 


THE  END. 


1 

Date  Due 

F^-"UL'h 

mib%( 

MY' 

MR  20-53 

AP  S-  ■■ 

AD   O?  'f- 

i^V^lf' 

WUt^^ 

5^ 

mi 

5  199^ 

■ 1 

^ 

^   \v 


